Genetic improvement of Ilex paraguariensis in western Santa Catarina State: estimate of phenotypic and genetic parameters

Paulo Alfonso Floss,Vânia Beatriz Cipriani,Carlos André Stuepp,Cristiane Aparecida Fioravante Reis,Ivar Wendling

doi:10.33448/rsd-v11i3.26084

Abstract

An especially important species in South America, yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis A.St.-Hil) is traditionally consumed as tea, chimarrão and tererê. Due to the formation of mate plantations with low productivity and high heterogeneity, genetic improvement actions have been conducted as a way to generate more productive cultivars of this species. In this sense, the present study aimed to estimate phenotypic and genetic parameters of yerba mate production traits earlier in provenance and progeny tests, implanted in the municipalities of Chapecó and Guatambu, in the western region of Santa Catarina State (South America). In each environment, 55 open pollinated yerba mate progenies were evaluated in a randomized complete block design, with five replications and three plants per plot. The traits measured at two years old were: height and crown diameter (m) and at three years were: visually estimated commercial biomass, weighed commercial biomass and thick branch mass (kg). The data obtained was analyzed using the genetic-statistical Selegen software. The results obtained support that there is genetic variability in the open pollinated yerba mate progenies evaluated in Santa Catarina, with possible gains by selecting the best parent trees for future production of improved seeds and for cloning.

Highlights

Yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis A.St.-Hil.) has significant economic, environmental and cultural importance in South America due to its traditional consumption as tea, chimarrão and tererê (Sturion & Resende 2010; Paiva et al 2020)
In 2018, Brazilian yerba mate production totaled 939,580 tons, with approximately 42% originating from native plants and 58% from plantations (IBGE, 2018)
In Brazil, from the 1980s, actions were initiated to implement mate plantations, mainly due to the agricultural expansion over areas of native forest formations and the increased consumption of yerba mate (Sturion & Resende, 2010). Certain aspects such as using seedlings with questionable genetic quality and the gap between appropriate management technology and its adoption by professionals and rural producers have led to varied results, with average Brazilian productivity of 7.59 t ha-1 (IBGE, 2018)

Summary

Introduction

Yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis A.St.-Hil.) has significant economic, environmental and cultural importance in South America due to its traditional consumption as tea, chimarrão and tererê (Sturion & Resende 2010; Paiva et al 2020). In Brazil, from the 1980s, actions were initiated to implement mate plantations, mainly due to the agricultural expansion over areas of native forest formations and the increased consumption of yerba mate (Sturion & Resende, 2010). Certain aspects such as using seedlings with questionable genetic quality and the gap between appropriate management technology and its adoption by professionals and rural producers have led to varied results, with average Brazilian productivity of 7.59 t ha-1 (IBGE, 2018)

Methods

Results

Conclusion