Attaining seed and seedling vigor in cotton is a goal of both researchers and producers. By separating and defining components of seed and seedling vigor, progress can be achieved. Seed vigor should be distinguished from seed viability and defined in terms of low degree of seed deterioration. Being a connecting link between two generations of plants or crops, seed is a carrier of new technology or new improvements made by the breeders, seed vigour is an important parameter, needs to be assessed primarily to supplement germination and viability tests to gain insight into the performance of a cotton seed lot in the field or in storage. Seeds are prime factor for crop production, human nutrition, and food security. The key component of the performance of crop seeds is the complex trait of seed vigour. In Agriculture, the crop yield and resource use efficiency depend on successful plant establishment in the field, and it is the vigour of seeds that defines their ability to germinate and establish seedlings rapidly, uniformly, and robustly across diverse environmental conditions prevailing in region. Improving vigour to enhance the critical and yield-defining stage of crop establishment remains a primary objective of the agricultural industry. The knowledge of the regulation of seed germination has developed greatly in recent decades. However, the understanding of the basis of variation in vigour and therefore seed performance during the establishment of crops remains limited. Here we consider seed vigour at an eco-physiological, molecular, and biomechanical level. We discuss how some seed characteristics that serve as adaptive responses to the natural environment are not suitable for agriculture. Past domestication has provided incremental improvements, but further actively directed change is required to produce seeds with the characteristics required both now and in the future. In this paper, the focus is to discuss ways in which basic plant science could be applied to enhance seed performance in cotton production.