Prediction of genetic value for coffee production in Coffea arabica from a half-diallel with lines and hybrids

Genetic analysis of yield and morphological traits has been carried out in Coffea arabica from a half-diallel including the parental lines. The trial was established in west Cameroon with completely randomized single-tree plots. Observations included yield (four years), stem diameter, height and number of primaries. General combining abilities (GCA) and specific combining abilities (SCA) as heritabilities and genetic correlations were estimated. A significant SCA variance was observed for all the traits. Morphological traits, stem diameter, plant height and number of primaries, were genetically correlated to the yield. The hybrids were, on average, better performing than lines. There was no clear relationship between performance of lines and their general combining ability. Contribution of the seven lines to the SCA sum of squares was shown to be unequal for all the studied traits, one parent (Java) being far the most interactive. This variation of interactivity seemed to be related to different levels of residual heterozygosity among parental lines. Indirect prediction of yield using morphological traits gave the same value for expected genetic gain as the prediction based on cumulated yield over four years. The multitrait indirect selection for yield operated in a different way as far as GCA and SCA are concerned. The application of these results to coffee breeding strategies involving hybrid selection is discussed. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.