Abstract
Heart of palm harvesting and exploitation has reduced the natural reserves of acai and jucara; hence, the peach palm is an excellent option as source of heart of palm that can reduce the pressure on these two species. The peach palm has high tillering and no post-harvest oxidation. An experiment in a randomized block design with 72 progenies of peach palm, 36 replications and a single tree plot was performed for five years at the experimental field of Embrapa in the Western Amazon. Genetic parameters were estimated using two mixed models, one based on progeny means and the second on joint information from crops. A repeatability analysis, genotype selection, and progeny selection were performed; the Mulamba and Mock selection index was determined; and Tocher’s clustering method was applied. The repeatability analysis revealed the existence of genetic variability, low repeatability, which ranged from 0.3307 to 0.6698 for five years. The analysis performed through the progeny means showed a heritability that varied from 51% to 23% for in all variables; the clustering revealed two groups. The progeny selection should be the main selection strategy, and crosses of superior progenies of different groups should be emphasized.
Highlights
Brazil is the world's largest producer and consumer of heart of palm, the main way to obtain such good is through exploitation of juçara (Euterpe edulis Mart.) and açaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) (Sousa, Soares, Cordeiro, & Silva, 2011)
The genetic parameters estimation for individual analysis are shown in Table 2; low values for additive genetic variance (σ2a) can be observed
The heritability based in progeny selection (h2pa) seems more suitable to selection; this heritability ranged from 51 to 23% for the traits with statistically significant additive genetic variance
Summary
Brazil is the world's largest producer and consumer of heart of palm, the main way to obtain such good is through exploitation of juçara (Euterpe edulis Mart.) and açaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) (Sousa, Soares, Cordeiro, & Silva, 2011). Because the natural reserves of these two species in southern Brazil are running out, the exploitation of Amazonian acai and juçara has. The peach palm (Bactris gasipaes Kunth.) is proving to be a promising species and an alternative for heart of palm production. It shows desirable features for this sector. It is a native species, has high rusticity, is heat resistant, and has high tillering capacity, which reduces the need for land
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