SELECTION OF EMBRAPA CERRADOS BAG-MACAÚBA GENOTYPES FOR YIELD COMPONENTS VIA MIXED MODELS

The macaúba (Acrocomia aculeata) has been pointed out as the native species with the potential to change the Brazilian agricultural scenario in relation to the production of biomass, food and energy. In this sense, it is essential to carry out genetic-based studies with the currently conserved germplasm aiming at the genetic improvement of the species and selection of promising materials. The objective of this study was to select macaúba genotypes from the Active Germplasm Bank of Embrapa Cerrados (BAGMC) for traits related to yield components. Data on the number of bunches/plant, number of fruits/plant and average fruit mass (g) on a wet basis (40% moisture) were observed among 514 plants from 88 accessions of the BAGMC during the first years of production, in two consecutive cycles from 2017/2018 to 2018/2019. The experimental design was in randomized blocks, with three replications, composed of plots of one (1) to four (4) plants. The estimate of the predicted breeding values was obtained via the best unbiased linear prediction (BLUP) and the variance components and genotypic parameters by the restricted maximum likelihood method (REML). The software used was Selegen-REML/BLUP (Model No. 154). The estimated repeatability coefficients (r), which represent the maximum that the heritability in the broad sense can reach, presented the values of 0.29, 0.25 (low, r ≤ 0.30) and 0.84 (high, r ≥ 0.60) for number of bunches, number of fruits and fruit mass, respectively. The averages observed among the 514 genotypes in predicted breeding values were 2.7 bunches/plant, 179.8 fruits/plant and 30.62 g of fruit mass