Genetic progress and early selection of juvenile physic nut genotypes

Physic nut (Jatropha curcas L.) is a euphorbia used in the production of biodiesel. The species has a narrow genetic base which the process of launching cultivars is difficult Early characterization of the genotypes is an important step in crop breending. The aims of this study were to perform an early selection in morpho-agronomic traits, to predict the genetic progress of such traits and to indicate potential parents for progeny development. The experimental design used for the randomized blocks with 26 treatments and three replications. The morpho-agronomic traits were analyzed via mix models and the genetic progress added by direct, indirect selection and selection indexes. The genetic dissimilarity was provided by the Mahalanobis distance, with UPGMA hierarchical grouping and co-phenetic correlation coefficient acquired from 1,000 permutations. The indicators demonstrated genetic variability, with the identification of promising juvenile genotypes. The genotypes JCCE034, JCCE014 and JCCE103 show better genetic progress and the genotypes JCCE036 and JCCE86 show greater genetic divergences, forming individual clusters. J. curcas genotypes are promising in early selection and have satisfactory genetics gains for the traits. The genotypes have a good ability to compose groups of parents in targeted crosses, constituting base populations in the improvement off curcas.