Evolucao do programa de conservacao dos recursos genéticos de cacau na Amazonia Brasileira

The paper describes the endeavours concerning the conservation of the genetic resources of cacao in the Amazon valley and presents and inventory of the accessions existing at the end of 1985 which demonstrates the scale of the work undertaken. Three periods can be recognized in the development of genetic resources activities in the region. The first (1937-1964) concerns the efforts of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Instituto Agronomico do Norte, which, through the introduction of foreign elite clones and selections in local populations, resulted in the establishment of the first organized germplasm collection in the country. The second period (1965-1975) features the start of CEPLAC's involvement in the region. Its Centro de Pesquisas do Cacau carried out, with the collaboration of the Instituto de Pesquisas Agropecuárias do Norte, expeditions, collections and introduction for the purpose of obtaining germplasm for use in breeding programmes. These expeditions, which were the first conducted in the region, demonstrated the large variability of the cacao populations in the Brazilian Amazon. During the third period (1976-1985), under the responsability of CEPLAC's Special Department for the Amazon, a comprehensive restructured programme was created,in order to increase the activities in collecting, maintenance of germplasm banks and utilization of the native and foreign germplasm resources in the Amazon region. The germplasm collecting activities were directed at obtaining samples representing the phenotypic variability of the existing populations, priority being given to exploring those populations which were threatened with genetic erosion. The present collection contains 1.749 accessions, of which 984 are clones and 765 are progenies, comprising 17.251 genotypes. Of this total, 91 per cent of the accessions represent native and cultivated populations of the region, 6 per cent are introduced varieties and 3 per cent are genotypes selected in recently planted commercial cultivations. The phenotypic variation observed for many characteres in extremely large, both among and within populations, and indicated that the collection possesses considerable potential for use in improvement. The fact that the area of dispersion of the species comprises discrete populations having distinctive phenotypic characteristics and that the majority of these have yet to be explored permits the anticipation of ample possibilities for the enrichment of the collection through sustained collecting activities

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	41632 Almeida, C.M.V.C. de, 46785 Barriga, J.P., 89068 Machado, P.F.R., 46977 Bartley, B.G.D.
Format:	biblioteca
Published:	1987
Subjects:	RECURSOS GENETICOS, THEOBROMA CACAO, CONSERVACION DEL GERMOPLASMA, PROYECTOS DE DESARROLLO, AMAZONAS (BRASIL),
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