Implications of the post hoc blocking row–col technique on the intrapopulational improvement of the passion fruit

The post hoc blocking row–col (RC) technique is an alternative for the evaluation of variables, allowing the improvement of selection reliability in the treatment of agronomical traits of a population. A total of 135 full-sib progenies from the Unemat’s passion fruit breeding program were evaluated. Treatments were placed in randomized complete block designs with three replications and three plants per plot. The procedure for the post hoc blocking RC technique followed a distribution of 28 rows and 28 columns. The chi-square test and akaike’s information criterion were used to compare model performance. Components of variance and other parameters such as relative efficiency, heritability, selection reliability and variance of the prediction error were estimated by means of restricted maximum likelihood. The post hoc blocking RC technique presented better adjustment of the data when compared to the original, randomized block design, for mass, number of fruits, and total soluble solids traits. Values of heritability, selection reliability and prediction error variance found in this study, and classified as moderate to superior for all traits, positively impact in the intra-population improvement of passion fruit. The post-hoc blocking RC technique improved the identification of error variation through its additional sources of row and column, directly impacting the precision of the experiment, and can be recommended for the genetic improvement of passion fruit.