Abstract: Cotton plant observes significant reduction in seed cotton yield when subjected to water stress. To find out genotypes having better drought tolerance, seven genotypes of Gossypium hirsutum L. were tested under two moisture levels, i.e., normal and water deficit stress conditions at five locations of Punjab, Pakistan (Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Vehari, Rahim Yar Khan, and Bahawalpur) in 2013 and 2014. Genotype×environment interaction (GEI) was studied using the genotype main effects and genotype by environment interaction (GGE) biplot and additive main effect and multiplicative interaction analysis. The genotypes G3 (7001/11) and G6 (FH-942) were stable under normal condition, while under drought condition, the stable genotype was G5 (FH-326) when analysed using additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) biplot scheme. While GGE biplot analysis on the basis of best performance revealed that under normal condition the genotypes, G1 (L-13/10) and G2 (FH-2056/10), carrying the common position in biplot. Whereas, under water deficit stress condition, G5 was the best adaptive genotype at all five locations. In the same way, ranking of genotypes showed that the G5 was the ideal genotype under both conditions. So, it is concluded that the genotype G5 (FH-326) was found best for water deficit stress condition and can be cultivated under water scarce areas of Punjab.

Key words: upland cotton ,  yield stability ,  adaptability ,  water stress ,  Pakistan ,  irrigation