Plot size and border effect on breeding of Urochloa ruziziensis

Abstract

The objective of this work was to assess the need for a border area and to estimate the optimum plot size in experiments for the evaluation of Urochloa ruziziensis. Plant height and green mass production of eight half‑sib progenies of U. ruziziensis were evaluated in two cuttings. A randomized complete block design was used, with four replicates and 16 m² plots. Each plot was subdivided into 32 strata of 0.5 m², with each stratum being considered as a basic unit. To determine the need for a border area, analysis of variance was carried out considering the position of the basic unit in the plot. Estimates of optimum plot size were made by the maximum curvature of the coefficient of variation method and by the resampling method. The use of borders does not affect the mean performance and classification of the half‑sib progenies evaluated. The use of 3 m² plots is enough to obtain good experimental accuracy in an experiment with half‑sib progenies of U. ruziziensis