SELECCIÓN TEMPRANA EN FAMILIAS DE MEDIOS HERMANOS MATERNOS DE TOMATE DE CÁSCARA DE LA RAZA PUEBLA

Abstract

Indirect selection was performed on 100 maternal half-sib families of husk tomato based on early identification characters. The aim was to identify families with higher performance based on two or more early expression traits and high yield, under the assumption that their high genetic correlation will allow appropriate selection of superior families. At 40 days after transplanting, first bifurcation height (FBH) and fruit set number (FSN) were recorded. At 76 days after transplanting, yield (YP) and fruit number per plant (FP) were also recorded. Analysis of variance showed significant differences in FBH and FSN. Selection of the upper 10 % of families using the four traits separately was difficult. Cluster analysis formed four sets of families, whose characteristics were corroborated by discriminant analysis. This description enabled selecting the best families, which showed low FBH and FSN, and higher YP and FP. Early selection, supported by multivariate analysis, allowed selecting family groups with similar characteristics and identifying superior families.