Evaluation of the genetical progress obtained in 22 years on the improvement of irrigated rice in Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

The goal of this work was to evaluate the performance of the genetical improvement program of irrigated rice in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The grain yield data of the advanced comparative trials of both cultivars and lines of irrigated rice, conducted in several regions of the State of Minas Gerais over the period of 1974/75 to 1995/1996 were utilized. The average genetical gain obtained was of 33 kg/ha/year (0.98%), being highly significant (P < 0.01). The 22 year period was subdivided into two phases: at the first phase (1974/75 to 1979/80), a gain of 203 kg/ha/year (6.06%) was noticed, which was highly significant, and the second phase (1980/81 to 1995/96) presented a gain of 15 kg/ha/year (0.25%) being non significant. The high gain of the first phase is ascribed to the replacement of traditional high size and poor yielding potential for breeding materials such as Inca, BG 90-2 and MG 2. In the second phase of the program, increased attention was given to obtain materials more resistant to diseases and with better grain quality and non-significant gains for yield were obtained.