FORAGE PEANUT VARIABILITY: GENETIC PARAMETERS FOR AGRONOMIC AND NUTRITIVE TRAITS IN TIME-SEPARATE TRIALS

Abstract

Successful breeding programs depend on the information defined through the evaluation of parameters obtained according to the selection strategy, based on the correlated responses among the multiple traits evaluated and the environmental influence. As follows, the objective of this study was to estimate the genetic parameters for agronomic and nutritive traits of forage peanut to subsidize the selection of more adapted genotypes. We evaluated 67 genotypes in three separate trials with two common controls. Agronomic and nutritive data were analyzed using the mixed model methodology (REML/BLUP) for each trial. Genetic parameters were estimated for all the variables and genotypic values served as a basis for checking the genetic correlation among traits. There was genetic variability and environmental influence for the traits analyzed, except for nutritive ones. Individual heritabilities, in general, were low to moderate and the traits of forage production (vigor, height, ground cover, and total and leaves dry matter yields) correlated with each other in the three trials. There is a favorable condition for the selection of agronomic traits, with high accuracy and consistency among trials. There is the possibility of indirect selection with the use of agronomic traits related to forage yield.