Report on the field performance and identification of nutritional quality in the population of promising apomictic hybrids Pm16 (20 hybrids)

Megathyrsus maximus plays an important role in livestock production systems in developing countries. M. maximus breeding program at CIAT started in 2016. The best apomictic hybrids were selected and planted in the field in order to compare their agronomic traits with five cultivars. The experiment was conducted in Alpha lattice design. Genotypes were evaluated for five morphological traits during 2020 (plant biomass, plant height, growth habit, number of inflorescences, and leaf to stem ratio. Statistical analysis was carried out in META-R and R software. ANOVA revealed significant differences (P < 0.05) among genotypes and evaluation date. Heritability for plant biomass, plant height, and number of inflorescens parameters was high (> 0.8) in all evaluation dates except for plant height in evaluation no. 4 when it was moderate (0.69). Flowering dynamics showed that more than 50% of the genotypes showed the highest flowering index at 31 days of regrowth.

Hernández, Luis Miguel; Mazabel, Johanna; Rios, Gonzalo; Castiblanco, Valheria.