Selection of Jatropha curcas families based on temporal stability and adaptability of genetic values

Abstract

Despite its numerous important traits for biodiesel production, little research exists on the Jatropha curcas crop, mainly with respect to repeated measures over time (crop years). The present study was thus developed to evaluate repeated measures over time in Jatropha curcas and examine the applicability and efficiency of the harmonic mean of the relative performance of genetic values (HMRPGV) method in the selection of families for yield, stability, and adaptability, simultaneously. The work involved data from the evaluation of 730 individuals of 73 half-sib families, in a complete randomized block design, during six crop years, for the trait grain yield. Restricted maximum likelihood/best linear unbiased prediction (REML/BLUP) procedure was performed to estimate the variance components and predict the genetic values. Ten crop years must be evaluated to obtain 80% of the maximum coefficient of determination and 90% accuracy in terms of genetic gain from selection. The efficiency of performing 10 measurements compared with the situation in which only one measurement is used was 67%. The HMRPGV method has great potential in the selection of Jatropha curcas families for yield, stability, and adaptability, simultaneously.