Avaliação de acessos de Desmanthus e Macroptilium no semiárido Pernambucano

Abstract

Legumes are an important native forage resource. Morphological, yield and qualitative characteristics of Desmanthus spp. occurring in semiarid Pernambucano municipalities were evaluated, as well as agronomic traits and chemical composition of Macroptilium lathyroides (L.) Urb accesses. The first evaluation was at the Serra Talhada Academic Unit (UAST) of Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (UFRPE), from September 2012 to May 2013 in a genebank comprising 17 Desmanthus spp. accesses collected in Bom Jardim, Jataúba, Serra Talhada and Sertânia. The descriptors were applied four times at 60 days intervals. The principal component analysis was used, and clustering was by Tocher´s analysis based on the mean Euclidean distance. The second evaluation was in a greenhouse at the Animal Science Department, UFRPE, from August 2012 to April 2013. Macroptilum lathyroides (L.) Urb, accesses from Bom Jardim, Caetés and Tupanatinga were studied in a completely randomized design with three replications during three cycles of assessment, with a 60 days between cuts interval. Means were compared by Tukey test at 5% probability. Differences were found between Desmanthus spp. accesses, which indicates the possibility of selection. Three groups were formed, the first having 15 accesses, while the remaining had a single access each. Leaflets per leaf, stem diameter and length of the pod contributed the most to identify the divergence between accesses. There were diferences between M lathyroides accesses and between the three assessment cycles, with reduced growth after successive cuts. Access 62F, formed seeds from plants harvested in Bom Jardim, was superior for leaf length, width, and dry weight, root dry weight and percentage of dry leaves. The variability observed for M. lathyroides accesses indicates the possibility of selection of superior individuals, and other characteristics of quality and productive over more evaluation cycles should be measured.