Desempenho de híbridos de cajueiro-anão-precoce no litoral do estado do Ceará

The selection of cashew genotypes in segregating progenies obtained via artificial hybridization consists of a chance to associate favorable genes inherited from known parents. Additionally, knowing the dynamics of the main characters of interest can help define effective strategies to obtain genetic gains. So, the objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of cashew full-sib progenies in relation to production and morphological characters, cultivated in the municipality of Pacajus-CE in three growing seasons, and to estimate the correlations among traits of interest. In the seasons of 2010, 2011 and 2012 were evaluated seven progenies of cashew in relation to morphological and productive characters. The crosses CCP 76 x BRS 226, CCP 76 x Embrapa 51 and BRS 226 x Embrapa 51 shown to be promising in generating superior genotypes for agronomic interest characters. The size of the plant showed positive associations with productivity of nuts, and the number of nuts per plant showed strong correlation with yield. So, it is important to emphasize the necessity to perform the selection seeking balance in relation to the performance on morphological and productive characters in order to obtain genotypes that combine high productivity of nuts and appropriate size of plant.