PERFORMANCE OF EARLY-CYCLE SOYBEAN GENOTYPES FOR USE IN A SUGARCANE ROTATION SYSTEM

Abstract

Sugarcane and soybean are relevant crops for Brazilian agribusiness, and the demand for their products and by-products is growing worldwide. The Soybean x Sugarcane (SSC) production system operates with high efficiency and contributes to the sustainability of agribusiness. Soybean cultivars suitable for use in SSC must have an early cycle, adaptation to the edaphoclimatic region, and high yield. The Value of Cultivation and Use (VCU) assays are conducted in different edaphoclimatic regions, to identify promising soybean genotypes in an advanced stage of inbreeding. The objective of this work was to identify soybean genotypes with high adaptability and stability that are possible candidates for registration and protection of new commercial cultivars, for use in the SSC system in the São Paulo State, Brazil. Twenty genotypes and four commercial cultivars were evaluated in six environments, in a randomized block design with three replications. To verify adaptability and stability, the AMMI method was used. Using the adopted methodology, it was possible to identify superior genotypes for SSC that showed good adaptability and general stability between the evaluated environments, being possible recommendable candidates for SSC in the edaphoclimatic regions in which they were evaluated.