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Analysis of phenotypical diversity of 37 accessions of national cocoa x trinitario (Theobroma cacao l.) from the southern zone of Ecuador

Abstract:

The objective of this work was to characterize in situ the existing fine and aroma National type cocoas. In the most representative areas of the Province of El Oro, in order to know, analyze and conserve the existing diversity of this species, for this 22 quantitative morphoagronomic descriptors proposed by several authors were used, the 37 trees evaluated were georeferenced. The CP analysis showed that the most discriminating descriptors were those of leaf (D2, D3), flower (D5, D6, D7, D8, D12), fruits (D15, D17) and seeds (D18) that explain 78% of the cumulative total variance. By means of cluster analysis and using the hierarchical conglomerate method, the dendrogram was obtained, finding 11 well-defined groups. The results obtained show a high phenotypic variability, highlighting the accessions Arenillas 1, Piñas 2 and Chilla 3, which showed the greatest phenotypic distance, with a high potential for use in future breeding programs, because they are adapted to extreme conditions of drought, temperature and light hours.