Potential of dry matter yield from alfalfa germplasm in composing base populations

Abstract

The aim of this study was to obtain estimates of genetic parameters via meta-analysis and mixed models to evaluate the potential of the germplasm from Embrapa Pecuaria Sudeste for integration in breeding programs. Data on the dry matter yield of 77 accessions evaluated in 24 harvests were used. Descriptive analysis was performed for mixed model and meta-analytical estimates. The variances for each parameter were estimated. For the meta-analysis, variances were used as weighting measures, and the fixed and random models were tested. A diagonal structure was considered for the residual variance matrix. Mean dry matter yield ranged from 1019.5 to 2684 kg ha-1. The phenotypic, permanent environmental, and genotypic variances oscillated widely throughout the harvests, as well as heritability. Meta-analytical estimates proved to be an accurate and complementary approach to the mixed model analysis. Both mixed model and meta-analytical estimates indicated the breeding potential of the alfalfa germplasm.