Potencial de perfilhamento de cultivares de trigo sob condições de sequeiro em Minas Gerais

Abstract

Wheat cultivation has seen significant expansion in Central Brazil, particularly with dryland farming in Minas Gerais State. Consequently, there is a need for research in genetic and technological improvement to enhance production potential. One of the morphoagronomic traits of wheat that influences grain yield is tillering. This study aimed to evaluate the tillering potential of commercial wheat cultivars from different companies under dryland conditions in the Campo das Vertentes mesoregion of Minas Gerais State and its influence on grain yield. Additionally, it aimed to determine the optimized sample size for evaluating production components. Sixteen cultivars from various wheat breeding programs in Brazil (Biotrigo Genética, Embrapa, Epamig, and OR Genética de Sementes) were evaluated. The experiments were conducted at the Center for Scientific and Technological Development in Agriculture - Muquém Farm - of the Universidade Federal de Lavras, and at the Adventist College of Minas Gerais, both in the municipality of Lavras-MG. The experimental design was a 4x4 triple lattice square. The plot consisted of five rows of 5.0 meters each, spaced 20 cm apart. The following traits were evaluated: number of tillers emitted and productive, heading, plant height, spike length, number of grains per spike, grain yield adjusted to 13% moisture, thousand-grain weight, and hectoliter weight. Individual and joint data analyses were performed using mixed model approaches with interblock information recovery. For the number of tillers at different dates, a split-plot-in-time analysis was conducted. The adjusted phenotypic means of the cultivars were grouped using the Scott-Knott test at 5% probability. Significant differences were observed among the cultivars for most of the traits evaluated, except for grain yield. The optimized number of spikes to measure the production components length and number of grains per spike was six. The tillering response curve varied among the cultivars, with higher tillering rates observed for the TBIO Mestre and TBIO Aton cultivars. Tillering rate showed a positive association with heading date but a low association with grain yield and its components in wheat.