Biometric analysis of selection gains in popcorn population of the fifth cycle of recurrent selection

Abstract

Aiming to select superior progenies for concentration of favorable alleles in a popcorn population on the fifth cycle of intrapopulation full-sib recurrent selection, two hundred progenies were evaluated for six agronomic traits, including grain yield and popping expansion, in randomized complete block design with two replications within sets, in two distinct environments: Colégio Estadual Agrícola Antônio Sarlo, in Campos dos Goytacazes, and Experimental Station of PESAGRO-RIO, located in Itaocara, Rio de Janeiro State, in 2007/2008. There were significant differences among families within sets in all traits, indicating the presence of genetic variability to be exploited in the future cycles. The utilized selection indexes were the Mulamba and Mock; and Smith and Hazel. The Mulamba and Mock index propitiated more elevated magnitudes of the predicted gains for most of the traits, including popping expansion and grain yield, with values of 6.01 and 8.53%, respectively, utilizing arbitrary weight attributed by tentative.