A new proposal for the m + a methodology in segregating populations of cowpea

ABSTRACT The evaluation of segregating populations in plant breeding programs is an onerous and time-consuming process. Early identification of populations with genetic potential can be done by m + a methodology. However, the possibility of a modification in the traditional methodology in order to make it more efficient, that is, faster and cheaper, was envisaged. Thus, the objective of this study was to compare the genetic gains obtained by both methodologies, the traditional one and the proposed modification. For this, ten segregating bean-cowpea populations were evaluated at two distinct levels of homozygous F3:4 and F3:5. Genetic values were predicted by two different statistical genetic models. This was possible due to the methodology proposed here to present a much shorter execution time than the traditional methodology. Thus, with a shorter evaluation time, the breeding program manager can plan the evaluation of a larger number of populations in a short time.