Combining abilities and heterotic groups in Pisum sativum L.

The objective of this research was to investigate the use of heterosis and estimates of the general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) for yield and the yield-related traits for identifying suitable parents and forming heterotic groups for pea- breeding programs. Seventy-six F1 hybrids derived from crosses between nineteen female lines and four male testers were evaluated during two seasons. Estimates of variance due to GCA and SCA effects and their relationship revealed predominantly additive effects for all traits. Parents with higher GCA values were "ZAV20" (female parent) and "ZAV23" (male parent).The cross "ZAV5 x ZAV23" showed the highest value for seed yield. Days to flowering and number of seeds per plot were the variables with the highest values for broad and narrow-sense heritability (0.93 and 0.65, respectively), indicating that these traits are highly heritable. The highest best parent heterosis for seed yield was observed in the "ZAV17 x DDR14" hybrid. Four heterotic groups were formed and validated by estimating the intra and inter group heterosis.Fil: Espósito, María Andrea. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Gatti, Ileana. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Cravero, Vanina Pamela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Lopez Anido, Fernando Sebastian. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Cointry Peix, Enrique Luis. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; Argentin

Evaluation of a lentil collection (Lens culinaris Medik) using morphological traits and digital phenotyping

The objective of this work was to evaluate 81 lentil cultivars using morphological traits and seed characteristics using digital phenotyping. Caliber (C) and the color traits luminosity (L), color coordinates a and b, and color index (CI) were measured and analyzed with appropriate software; also yield (Y), plant height (PH) and days to flowering (DF) were measured. Highly significant differences between cultivars were present for all traits and high heritability in broad sense heritability (H2B) for C (97%), CI (94%), a (93%) and L and b (83%) were found, indicating high genetic variability for these traits. Digital phenotyping showed to be a powerful tool for germplasm characterization along with field evaluation of agronomical traits. Principal Component Analysis and Cluster Analysis allows de identification of differentiated groups of cultivars with similar characteristics, leading to a more efficient use of the germplasm available as commercial cultivars or as parents in a breeding program. Among these groups, group 1 had 32 cultivars with highest C and group 2 had 21 cultivars with higher Y. Highlights Digital phenotyping showed to be a powerful tool for germplasm characterization along with field evaluation of agronomical traits. Principal Component Analysis and Cluster Analysis allows the identification of differentiated groups of cultivars with similar characteristics. Cultivar groups with similar characteristics allow more efficient use of germplasm.The objective of this work was to evaluate 81 lentil cultivars using morphological traits and seed characteristics using digital phenotyping. Caliber (C) and the color traits luminosity (L), color coordinates a and b, and color index (CI) were measured and analyzed with appropriate software; also yield (Y), plant height (PH) and days to flowering (DF) were measured. Highly significant differences between cultivars were present for all traits and high heritability in broad sense heritability (H2B) for C (97%), CI (94%), a (93%) and L and b (83%) were found, indicating high genetic variability for these traits. Digital phenotyping showed to be a powerful tool for germplasm characterization along with field evaluation of agronomical traits. Principal Component Analysis and Cluster Analysis allows de identification of differentiated groups of cultivars with similar characteristics, leading to a more efficient use of the germplasm available as commercial cultivars or as parents in a breeding program. Among these groups, group 1 had 32 cultivars with highest C and group 2 had 21 cultivars with higher Y. Highlights Digital phenotyping showed to be a powerful tool for germplasm characterization along with field evaluation of agronomical traits. Principal Component Analysis and Cluster Analysis allows the identification of differentiated groups of cultivars with similar characteristics. Cultivar groups with similar characteristics allow more efficient use of germplasm

In vitro plant regeneration from cotyledonary nodes of recombinant inbred lines of lentil

An efficient and reproducible in vitro regeneration protocol for lentil was developed. For shoot regeneration, cotyledonary node explants of ten elite genotypes were cultured in an inverted orientation on different shoot regeneration media that consisted of Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 1mgL -1 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) (M1), 1mgL -1 BAP+0.45mgL -1 indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) (M2), and 2mgL -1 BAP (M3). High percentages of shoot regeneration ranging from 80 to 100% on M1 and M3 media and from 50 to 100% on M2 medium were induced. M1 was the most efficient shoot regeneration medium for most genotypes tested. For rooting, in vitro and in vitro-in vivo methods were used. Low and variable rooting percentages ranging from 0 to 45% were recorded with in vitro-in vivo method. Efficiency of rooting on in vitro medium varied depending on the medium in which shoots had been previously regenerated and the genotype tested. When M1 medium was used, high rooting percentages (over 40%) for most genotypes except for microsperma genotypes were found. When the 10 genotypes were screened for good regeneration performance using M1 medium, 2 main clusters and 3 subgroups within one of the clusters were formed based on similarities respect of the number of regenerated shoots per explant and rooting percentages. Subgroup 1 composed by A1146 genotype produced the highest number of shoots per explant (6.17 shoots) and a high rooting percentage (60%) so was selected for further transformation and use as a potential commercial variety.Fil: Bermejo, Carolina Julieta. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Departamento de Producción Vegetal. Cátedra de Mejoramiento Vegetal y Producción de Semillas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Espósito, María Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Cravero, Vanina Pamela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: López Anido, Fernando. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Cointry Peix, Enrique Luis. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; Argentin

A rapid method to increase the number of F1 plants in pea (Pisum sativum) breeding programs.

In breeding programs, a large number of F2 individuals are required to perform the selection process properly, but often few such plants are available. In order to obtain more F2 seeds, it is necessary to multiply the F1 plants. We developed a rapid, efficient and reproducible protocol for in vitro shoot regeneration and rooting of seeds using 6-benzylaminopurine. To optimize shoot regeneration, basic medium contained Murashige and Skoog (MS) salts with or without B5 Gamborg vitamins and different concentrations of 6-benzylaminopurine (25, 50 and 75 μM) using five genotypes. We found that modified MS (B5 vitamins + 25 μM 6-benzylaminopurine) is suitable for in vitro shoot regeneration of pea. Thirty-eight hybrid combinations were transferred onto selected medium to produce shoots that were used for root induction on MS medium supplemented with α-naphthalene-acetic acid. Elongated shoots were developed from all hybrid genotypes. This procedure can be used in pea breeding programs and will allow working with a large number of plants even when the F1 plants produce few seeds.Fil: Espósito, María Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Departamento de Producción Vegetal. Cátedra de Mejoramiento Vegetal y Producción de Semillas; ArgentinaFil: Almiron, Paula. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Gatti, I.. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Departamento de Producción Vegetal. Cátedra de Mejoramiento Vegetal y Producción de Semillas; ArgentinaFil: Cravero, Vanina Pamela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Lopez Anido, Fernando Sebastian. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Departamento de Producción Vegetal. Cátedra de Mejoramiento Vegetal y Producción de Semillas; ArgentinaFil: Cointry Peix, Enrique Luis. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Departamento de Producción Vegetal. Cátedra de Mejoramiento Vegetal y Producción de Semillas; Argentin

High CO2 Under Nutrient Fertilization Increases Primary Production and Biomass in Subtropical Phytoplankton Communities: A Mesocosm Approach

The subtropical oceans are home to one of the largest ecosystems on Earth, contributing to nearly one third of global oceanic primary production. Ocean warming leads to enhanced stratification in the oligotrophic ocean but also intensification in cross-shore wind gradients and thus in eddy kinetic energy across eastern boundary regions of the subtropical gyres. Phytoplankton thriving in a future warmer oligotrophic subtropical ocean with enhanced CO2 levels could therefore be patchily fertilized by increased mesoscale and submesoscale variability inducing nutrient pumping into the surface ocean. Under this premise, we have tested the response of three size classes (0.2-2, 2-20, and > 20 μm) of subtropical phytoplankton communities in terms of primary production, chlorophyll and cell biomass, to increasing CO2 concentrations and nutrient fertilization during an in situ mesocosm experiment in oligotrophic waters offof the island of Gran Canaria. We found no significant CO2-related effect on primary production and biomass under oligotrophic conditions (phase I). In contrast, primary production, chlorophyll and biomass displayed a significant and pronounced increase under elevated CO2 conditions in all groups after nutrient fertilization, both during the bloom (phase II) and post-bloom (phase III) conditions. Although the relative increase of primary production in picophytoplankton (250%) was 2.5 higher than in microphytoplankton (100%) after nutrient fertilization, comparing the high and low CO2 treatments, microphytoplankton dominated in terms of biomass, contributing > 57% to the total. These results contrast with similar studies conducted in temperate and cold waters, where consistently small phytoplankton benefitted after nutrient additions at high CO2, pointing to different CO2-sensitivities across plankton communities and ecosystem types in the ocean

Aplicación de diferentes metodologías en el mejoramiento de lenteja (lens culinaris medik)

La lenteja es un cultivo muy importante desde el comienzo de la revolución de la agricultura en el Viejo Mundo y uno de los primeros en ser domesticados junto al trigo, la cebada, la arveja y el lino. Se lo considera como uno de los cultivos más antiguos con unos 8000 a 9000 años de antigüedad. Desde el punto de vista nutricional posee un alto valor proteico (20-30%), alto contenido de carbohidratos (43-70%) y es una fuente rica en fibra dietética, antioxidantes, vitaminas y minerales esenciales en la dieta. En Argentina, la principal región productora se ubica al sur de Santa Fe (Departamentos de Caseros, Constitución, Rosario y San Lorenzo) y al norte de Buenos Aires (Partidos de Pergamino, Rojas y Salto). Aquí el cultivo se hace en forma extensiva, de secano y durante el invierno, y luego de la cosecha, se realiza la siembra de soja de segunda. El objetivo de este trabajo es realizar una compilación de las diferentes metodologías utilizadas en el mejoramiento de lenteja.Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) is a self-pollinating diploid (2n=2x=14) species belonging to the Fabaceae family. It is one of the oldest crops known, with 8,000 to 9,000 years of history and it is among the earliest domesticates from the Near East Fertile Crescent. The seeds have high nutritional value. This crop is an interesting substitute to wheat in cereal rotations but its importance is low due to a lack of suitable varieties with local adaptation. Some of the major problems that Argentinian lentil breeders face are the narrow genetic base of the current cultivated germplasm and its low yield potential. A lentil breeding program was initiated in 2004 to develop new varieties with adaptation to prevalent conditions in growing areas of Argentina. Germplasm was obtained from ICARDA (International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas) and local producers. Conventional breeding methods using hybridization and selection are being carried out to develop improved varieties, broad the genetic base, and isolate superior recombinant inbred lines. Two new varieties have been obtained, one of the macrosperm type (Boyerito FCA) and the other of the microsperm type (Tacuarita FCA) through the application of mass selection in F2 populations from the cross of selected materials. This program complements traditional breeding methods with biotechnological techniques such as transgenesis, use of molecular markers, in vitro embryo culture combined with the SSD method to shorten the breeding time, and digital phenotyping.Fil: Bermejo, Carolina Julieta. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Departamento de Producción Vegetal. Cátedra de Mejoramiento Vegetal y Producción de Semillas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Maglia, F.. Ministerio de Ciencia. Tecnología e Innovación Productiva. Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica; ArgentinaFil: Palacios, T.. Ministerio de Ciencia. Tecnología e Innovación Productiva. Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica; ArgentinaFil: Espósito, María Andrea. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Departamento de Producción Vegetal. Cátedra de Mejoramiento Vegetal y Producción de Semillas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Cazzola, Federico. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario; Argentina. Ministerio de Ciencia. Tecnología e Innovación Productiva. Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica; ArgentinaFil: Guindon, María Fernanda. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Departamento de Producción Vegetal. Cátedra de Mejoramiento Vegetal y Producción de Semillas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Gatti, I.. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Departamento de Producción Vegetal. Cátedra de Mejoramiento Vegetal y Producción de Semillas; ArgentinaFil: Cointry Peix, Enrique Luis. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Departamento de Producción Vegetal. Cátedra de Mejoramiento Vegetal y Producción de Semillas; Argentin

Construction and validation of core collections in Pisum sp. using different methodologies

Core collections contribute to make conservation expenses more efficient and facilitate a better utilization of accessions in breeding programs. Eighty-five accessions from the working collection of Pisum germplasm belonging to cultivated species and subspecies were evaluated during 2015 and 2016 in the College of Agricultural Sciences, Rosario National University. Phenotypic values of 12 morphological traits were measured and best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) of the adjusted means or genotypic values for these traits was calculated. Molecular characterization was performed assaying a total of 15 SSR primer combinations and 25 SRAP primer combinations on all accessions. With all the data collected, four Cluster Analysis were performed (phenotypic values, genotypic values, molecular markers and consensus) to divide the accessions into groups with similar characteristics. Four strategies to determine the number of accessions selected from each group (constant, logarithmic, proportional and maximization strategies) were applied to construct 16 core collections. Validation of the core collections were performed analyzing the parameters Mean difference percentage (MD), Variance difference percentage (VD), Coincidence rate of range (CR) Variable rate of coefficient of variation (VR), Shannon diversity index (SW) and the taxonomy coverage (TC). Considering all validation parameters together, the logarithmic strategy with genotypic values data was the best strategy, while the worst strategy was the proportional strategy with molecular marker data.Fil: Espósito, María Andrea. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Departamento de Producción Vegetal. Cátedra de Mejoramiento Vegetal y Producción de Semillas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Gatti, Ileana. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Departamento de Producción Vegetal. Cátedra de Mejoramiento Vegetal y Producción de Semillas; ArgentinaFil: Cointry Peix, Enrique Luis. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Departamento de Producción Vegetal. Cátedra de Mejoramiento Vegetal y Producción de Semillas; Argentin

Evaluación de una colección de lentejas (Lens culinaris Medik) utilizando caracteres morfológicos y fenotipado digital

El objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar 81 cultivares de lenteja usando caracteres morfológicos y características de semilla utilizando fenotipado digital. El Calibre (C) y los caracteres Luminosidad (L), las coordenadas de color a y b, y el índice de color (IC) fueron medidos y analizados con un software apropiado; también fueron medidos el rendimiento (Y), altura de planta (PH) y los días a floración (DF). Se encontraron diferencias altamente significativas entre cultivares para todos los caracteres y se obtuvieron elevados valores de heredabilidad en sentido amplio (H2 B) para las variables C (97%), IC (94%), a (93%) y L y b (83%) indicando la presencia de alta variabilidad genética. El fenotipado digital mostró ser una poderosa herramienta para la caracterización de germoplasma junto con la evaluación a campo de caracteres agronómicos. El Análisis de Componentes Principales y el análisis de agrupamiento permitieron la identificación de diferentes grupos de cultivares con características similares lo que conduce a un uso más eficiente del germoplasma disponible como cultivares comerciales o como parentales en un programa de mejoramiento genético. Entre estos grupos, el grupo 1 tuvo 32 cultivares con mayor C y el grupo 2 tuvo 21 cultivares con mayor Y.The objective of this work was to evaluate 81 lentil cultivars using morphological traits and seed characteristics by digital phenotyping. Caliber (C) and the color traits luminosity (L), color coordinates a and b, and color index (CI) were measured and analyzed with appropriate software. Additionally, also yield (Y), plant height (PH) and days to flowering (DF) were measured. Highly significant differences between cultivars were found for all traits, while high broad sense heritability (H2 B) for C (97%), CI (94%), a (93%) and L and b (83%) were found, indicating high genetic variability for these traits. Digital phenotyping showed to be a powerful tool for germplasm characterization along with field evaluation of agronomical traits. Principal Component Analysis and Cluster Analysis allows de identification of differentiated groups of cultivars with similar characteristics, leading to a more efficient use of the germplasm available as commercial cultivars or as parents in a breeding program. Among these groups, group 1 had 32 cultivars with highest C and group 2 had 21 cultivars with higher Y.Fil: Espósito, María Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Santa Fe. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Oliveros; ArgentinaFil: Gatti, Ileana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Consejo de Investigaciones de la Universidad de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Bermejo, Carolina Julieta. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Cointry Peix, Enrique Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario; Argentin

In vitro tissue culture in breeding programs of leguminous pulses: use and current status

Legumes represent a vast family of plants including more than 600 genera and more than 13,000 species. Among them, the term “pulses” refers only to dried seed crops, excluding those grown mostly for oil extraction (like soybean), where dried peas, edible beans, lentils, chickpeas, cowpea, mungbean, blackgram and pigeonpea are the most common cultivated ones for human consumption due to their high nutritional value. They also have the ability of fixing nitrogen into the soil with symbiotic bacteria, which reduces the need for chemical fertilizers in crop rotations. Conventional breeding methods for pulses are laborious and time-consuming before the release of new genotypes. Thus, alternative biotechnological approaches may be advantageous in this area. Tissue culture, plant regeneration strategies, gene transfer and plant transformation are studied in these pulses. Also, anther, microspore, embryo and ovary culture and their opportunity of application in these pulses are discussed.Fil: Gatti, Ileana. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Consejo de Investigadores; ArgentinaFil: Guindón, María Fernanda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Bermejo, Carolina Julieta. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Espósito, María Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Cointry Peix, Enrique Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentin

Identification of an ideal test environment for asparagus evaluation by GGE-biplot analysis

Abstract Asparagus is a perennial crop which remains in production for at least 10 years. Therefore, the appropriate election of cultivars is crucial for asparagus growers. The aim of this work was to determine which environment is most desirable for enhancing asparagus clonal hybrids selection. Thirty four asparagus clonal hybrids and two testers were planted in a complete randomized block design. Total yield was evaluated for each hybrid in four environments conformed by combinations between age of culture and type of production. Data were subjected to an ANOVA and broad sense heritability was calculated for each environment. GGE biplot methodology was also used. The second productive season (for blanched and green production) was the best test environment and the most powerful to discriminate genotypes. Selection in this productive season would reduce time and costs in asparagus cultivars evaluation