Evaluation and selection in half-sib progenies of Physalis ixocarpa Brot. aiming to increase productivity

Abstract

This work aimed to select promissory progenies of Physalis ixocarpa Brot. to be included in the genetic improvement program of the species to increases its productivity. The population studied was composed of 15 half-sib progenies obtained from a free pollination-collection at UEFS Forest Garden. The experiment was installed in a completely randomized design, with six replications and one plant per plot. Although twenty descriptors were used, only 11 presented some variability and were submitted to statistical analysis, which it was performed following the REML/BLUP methodology using the Selegen software. The descriptors fruit production, number of fruits per plant, growth habit and beginning of flowering showed genetic variability. The multivariate techniques UPGMA and Tocher proved to be efficient at identifying the most divergent progenies. Significant genetic (16.36%) and phenotypic (21.82%) correlations were observed. The principal component analysis evidenced which were the main descriptors and progenies responsible for the total variation of the experiment. Five progenies were selected based on the Additive, Multiplicative and Mulamba Rank selection indices.