Genetic parameters to production characters of palm heart in half-sibs progenies of palm peach

Abstract

The peach palm (Bactris gasipaes) is a palm tree that produces palm heart originated of Amazonia with economic, social and environmental sustainability. To obtain improved cultivars it is necessary the evaluation and selection of genotypes with characteristics that support producers, manufacturing and consumers. In this context, the objective of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for palm heart production traits of peach palm considering half sibs progenies. Twenty progenies of Putumayo macrocarpa race were evaluated in seven cultivation cycles. The experiment was designed in complete randomized blocks, with 40 repetitions and one plant per plot. The genetic parameters were estimated by REML/BLUP methodology. Low genetic variability was observed in the population, possibly due to the narrow genetic base from original population. However, considering the significant genetic effect and the progeny mean heritability, the selection performed between progenies is more efficient than individual selection. The high number of measurements required for most of the evaluated characters becomes impractical in peach palm breeding programs. The number of palm heart per plant can be used to perform indirect selection for total production of palm heart.