Adaptability and stability of Coffea canephora Pierre ex Froehner genotypes in the Western Amazon

Abstract

The development of Coffea canephora cultivars is based on the characterization of genotype × environment interaction, which is interpreted to quantify the differential behavior of clones at different cultivation sites. The objective of this research was to study the genotype x environment interaction aiming to select clones of broad and specific adaptation to different environments of the Western Amazon. Twelve clones with hybrid characteristics of the botanical varieties Conilon and Robusta and four open pollinated clones, had their performance evaluated in comparison with four controls. The genotype × environment interaction was interpreted based on the environmental quality index, the nonparametric estimator of Lin and Binns, 1988 and on the dispersion of the centroid method. Effects of the genotypes, environment, and genotype × environment interaction were all significant (p<0.01). The environmental quality index (Ij) classified three environments as favorable for coffee production. In terms of the Lin and Binn’s estimator (Pi), hybrid genotypes 16, 10, 13, 09 and 14 presented lower Pi indices than others, and were classified as being more stable. Five clones of low adaptability, seven clones of specific adaptability to favorable or unfavorable environments and two clones of broad adaptability to all environments were identified interpreting the dispersion of the centroid method.