Genetic parameter estimates on forage cactus clones Opuntia ficus-indica Mill and Nopalea Cochenillifera Salm-Dick

Abstract

The forage cactus has been cultivated in the Semi-Arid region of the Brazilian Northeast since the beginning of this century. At present, the cultivated area with this forage is approximately 400 thousand hectares. This forage presents morphological and physiological characteristics appropriate to the Semi-Arid Region. Nevertheless, nutritional values shown by this forage cactus are very low and generally are related with dry matter, crude protein, crude fiber and phosphorus content. On the other hand, plant breeding can be used as an efficient tool to improve productivity and plant qualities. To evaluate the performance of these genetic characteristics, an experiment using ten forage cactus clones was carried out in a randomized block design, with three replications. The heritability to dry matter yield was 91,2% in a broad sense. The genetical indications showed that it is possible to select the best clones. The results showed that it is easier to change the characters associated to yield than those associated with plant quality.