Performance of the assai palm progenies evaluated for agronomic traits in Amapá State.

Assai fruit is a major dietary source of the Amazon inhabitants and recently the interest in its consumption was also observed in other regions and countries. These aspects have stimulated the development of this research, including the selection of genetically superior material to meet the growing demand. In the present study a total of 100 progenies were collected from different populations in the eastern region of Marajo island and evaluated at the Mazagao Experimental Station of Embrapa Amapa,. The trial was established in a randomized block design with two replications. The following traits were assessed: number of adult stipes; number of young stipes; number of sprouts; grown plant height; young plant height; oldest stipe circumference; circumference of the representative stipe of the young estipes averages; total number of bunches; length of internode and number of live leaves. The results indicated that there are differences in number of the sprouts (young and sprout), while at maturity there is a natural process of eliminating differences. The selection process becomes difficult due to the low values obtained for the relationship CVg / CVe and heritability for most traits; the management of tillers (young and sprout) is important for its influence on important traits relating the stem circumference giving the plant a better structure for further bunch support. The total number of bunches tends to be lower when management is not done. There was no continuous dispersion of the species in the region as indicated by the cluster analysis.