The selection strategy and the gain that it will provide allow, in a more efficient way, to direct a breeding program and to predict the success of the chosen selective scheme. The aim of this work was to evaluate the stability of the relationships among phenotypic characteristics of carrot populations cultivated in organic and conventional production systems. The experiments were conducted at Embrapa Vegetables, DF, Brazil. Two breeding lines and four commercial cultivars were planted in November 2007 in both production systems, in a randomized block design with four replications and plots of 1m². Ninety days after planting, twenty roots per plot were harvested and evaluated for phenotypic characteristics. The analysis of variance was performed to determine the interaction between treatments and production systems, as well as phenotypic correlations and path analysis. The direct and correlated selection gains were also determined. Almost all of the median correlations above 0.30 and the largest direct effects of path analysis and direct and indirect gains estimated were repeated in both systems, indicating that the systems are very similar in the expression of the relationship among the characteristics. Thus, breeding for these traits do not need to be carried out in areas of both organic and conventional systems.
Breeding; correlated response; Daucus carota L.
