UNIVARIATE AND MULTIVARIATE APPROACHES IN THE CHARACTERIZATION OF LIMA BEAN GENOTYPES

ABSTRACT To estimate the genetic diversity among the genotypes of a germplasm collection, a combined analysis of qualitative and quantitative variables was performed. The objective was to promote the morpho-agronomic characterization and estimate the genetic diversity of lima bean genotypes belonging to the Phaseolus Germplasm Bank of UFPI through univariate and multivariate approaches. The experiment was conducted on a screen house between January and September 2016, using a completely randomized design with four replications, with a plot consisting of a pot with a plant. An analysis of variance of the quantitative characteristics was performed and used to estimate the comparison of means. The combined analysis of the quantitative and qualitative variables was performed based on the Gower distance. Subsequently, the genotypes were grouped by the UPGMA method, from which five groups were formed. The lima bean genotypes showed wide genetic variability in relation to morpho-agronomic characteristics.