Publication Date
1993
Description
Brachiaria is a grass genus native to the tropical savannas of Africa. It encompasses about 90 species, a: few of which have gained economic importance owing to their adaptation to acid soils. A study was conducted at Campo Grande, Brazil and Quilichao, Colombia, using a large Brachiaria collection assembled by CIAT in east Africa. The objectives were to describe the diversity of this germplasm and to classify the accessions in clusters based on 7 morphological characters, by applying numerical taxonomy. Principal Component and Cluster Analyses were used. Wide variation was observed among the 386 accessions of 13 different species in Brazil and in Colombia. B. brizamha, largely represented in the collection, displayed the widest morphological diversity. Some overlap with B. mziziensis and B. decumbens depicts a visible continuous polymorphism among these 3 species. Eight clusters were formed according to Ward's minimum variance criterion. This is the first attempt to describe and organise the largest Brachiaria germplasm collection outside Africa, in the hope of helping direct the selection and improvement of promising accessions;
Citation
Valle, C B.; Maass, B L.; Almeida, C B.; and Costa, J.C G., "Morphological Characterization of Brachiaria germplasm" (2024). IGC Proceedings (1993-2023). 18.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/1993/session9/18
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
Morphological Characterization of Brachiaria germplasm
Brachiaria is a grass genus native to the tropical savannas of Africa. It encompasses about 90 species, a: few of which have gained economic importance owing to their adaptation to acid soils. A study was conducted at Campo Grande, Brazil and Quilichao, Colombia, using a large Brachiaria collection assembled by CIAT in east Africa. The objectives were to describe the diversity of this germplasm and to classify the accessions in clusters based on 7 morphological characters, by applying numerical taxonomy. Principal Component and Cluster Analyses were used. Wide variation was observed among the 386 accessions of 13 different species in Brazil and in Colombia. B. brizamha, largely represented in the collection, displayed the widest morphological diversity. Some overlap with B. mziziensis and B. decumbens depicts a visible continuous polymorphism among these 3 species. Eight clusters were formed according to Ward's minimum variance criterion. This is the first attempt to describe and organise the largest Brachiaria germplasm collection outside Africa, in the hope of helping direct the selection and improvement of promising accessions;
