Avaliação do desempenho agronômico e culinário de genótipos de mandioca (Manihot esculenta Crantz) em Pelotas, RS e Cruz das Almas, BA

Abstract

Cassava crops are exploited in many countries for starch obtainment, which is a raw material for various industries, and mostly for being essential food for many people and animal feed. In Brazil, the culture is widely cultivated and is an important consumption and income alternative for small farmers and to starchy industry. This work aimed to evaluate cassava genotypes for agronomic and cooking purpouses. At Embrapa Clima Temperado, Pelotas, RS, accessions from the active germplasm bank (etnovarietes and, cultivars) and promising cultivars from Embrapa plant breeding program were evaluated for four consecutive years 2011 to 2014, planted with spacing of 1.00m x 0.80m in a randomized block design and three replications. At Embrapa Mandioca e Fruticultura, Cruz das Almas, BA, 21 genotypes were evaluated in one-year period, 2013 to 2014. Plants were spaced 1.00m x 0.70m, under split plot experimental design, 20 plants per plot and four replications, harvested at 8, 10 and 12 months to evaluate the agronomic characteristics and cooking time at 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 months. Accessions Aceguá, Aipim de Caxias, Aipim do Sítio, Alta, Frita, Paulista, 2005 27-02, 497/08 and BRS Dourada showed satisfactory performance for agronomic and cooking characteristics in the evaluations performed at Embrapa Clima Temperado. These results suggest that there are genetic variability for table use of cassava and this is interesting for minor crop farming. Despite satisfactory agronomic characteristics, none of the genotypes evaluated at Embrapa Mandioca e Fruticultura presented cooking time comparable to the controls.