The study looked at how different types of cotton seeds from northern Xinjiang respond to lack of water. They used a solution to mimic dry soil and found that as the concentration of the solution increased, the seeds took longer to sprout and had lower success rates. Some types of cotton seeds were better at handling drought than others. Xinluzao No.33 and Yinong No.2 were more resistant to drought, while Xinluzao No.24 and Xinluzao No.31 were not as good at handling dry conditions. The researchers suggest that how well cotton seeds sprout can be a quick way to tell how well they can handle drought.