GENETIC DIVERSITY IN ACCESSIONS OF Stylosanthes spp. USING MORPHOAGRONOMIC DESCRIPTORS

ABSTRACT: The great diversity of plants in the Brazilian Semiarid environment represents a vital natural resource for the human populations of these areas. Many of these plants have been subject to extractivism and among these, the species of the genus Stylosanthes, which have occurrence in this region, show great potential, however, studies on this topic are limited, and little is known about the existing variability among these plants. Therefore, further study is necessary, to facilitate the development of cultivars. This might reduce the scarcity of fodder supply in this region, but to commence a plant breeding programme, it is essential to identify genetic variability. Therefore, this study evaluated 25 accessions of Stylosanthes spp., to identify the most suitable candidates to be parents in a plant breeding programme for the semiarid region of the state of Bahia. Two experiments were carried out in different sites in an experimental design of randomized blocks with four replicates, with a spacing of 3.0 × 8.0 m. A large amount of genetic diversity was observed among accessions and the genotypes BGF 08-007, BGF 08-016, BGF 08-015 and BGF 08-021 were the most divergent in the overall evaluation. For the structuring of segregating populations, it is recommended to combine the genotypes BGF 08-016, BGF 08-015, BGF 08-007 and BGF 08-006, and for the interspecific crosses, a hybrid from the accession BGF-024 with the accessions BGF 08-016 or BGF 08-015. This might generate superior individuals for mass descriptors, which are the most important for animal forage breeding.