Pure line selection in a heterogeneous soybean cultivar

Although cultivars of autogamous plants are homogeneous genotypes, they may show natural variability due to mechanical mixing, natural hybridization, and mutation. The aim of the present study was to estimate genetic and phenotypic parameters and to identify and select superior genotypes that associate good performance in traits of interest from a heterogeneous population derived from the cultivar BRS Favorita RR. The evaluation experiments were carried out in two crop years and five cities of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, in a lattice design, using progenies and the control ‘BRS Favorita RR’. Plant height, first pod height, days to full maturity, lodging score, and grain yield were evaluated. For estimation of the variance components, analysis of deviance was performed by the restricted maximum likelihood (REML) method. The results show that there is difference among treatments and that it is possible to select progenies that outperform the control for all traits evaluated.