Estudos biométricos em cultivares de feijão-caupi no município de Pombal – PB.

Abstract

Because the feijão-caupi (vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) is a species which is tolerant to unfavorable weather, temperature and humidity conditions, it has a great socioeconomic relevance to family farming, both as an energy source and as revenue alternative. However, it is not very explored when compared to other crops, such as soy. Therefore, this paper aims to evaluate the morpho-agronomic characteristics of seven different feijão-caupi cultivars in the soil and climate conditions of the county of Pombal, looking forward to select promising materials to be used in an improvement program. The experiment was conducted from August to December of 2016, in an open environment, at the Centro de Ciências e Tecnologia Agroalimentar - CCTA (Center of Agrifood Science and Technology) of the Universidade Federal de Campina Grande - UFCG (Federal University of Campina Grande), Campus Pombal-PB. The experiment used a 4-factor randomized block design. The following qualitative factors were evaluated: the hypocotyl's color; the keel's color; the pod's curvature; the seed's shape; the seed's outline. In terms of quantitative factor, the following were evaluated: weight of 50 seeds; the pod's height and diameter; number of pods per plant; number of grains per pod and average production. The variance analysis detected significant differences among the studied variables, except the average production. By using the Scott and Knott test, superior groups of cultivars were formed related to studied characteristics. Based on the evaluated genetic paramete is, it is possible to select promising materials to be introduced in improvement programs.