ALTERNATIVE PROCEDURES FOR PARENT CHOICE IN A BREEDING PROGRAM FOR THE COMMON BEAN (PHASEOLUS-VULGARIS L)

Six common bean cultivars were crossed in diallel and the segregant po pulations were assessed in the F-2 and F-3 generations to compare meth odologies for parental selection in a breeding program based on hybrid ization. The cultivars involved in the diallel were A 114, A 77, ESAL 686, Milionario, Carioca, and Flor de Mayo. The segregant F-2 and F-3 generations were assessed on the experimental campus of the Universida de Federal de Lavras, in July 1994. it was found that the cultivars di ffered in their general combining ability (GCA). Flor de Mayo, which b elongs to the Durango race, had the largest positive GCA estimate for grain yield, and the cultivars from the Mesoamerican race, Milionario and A 114, the smallest GCA estimates. For flowering, the cultivar tha t most contributed to reduced plant cycle was ESAL 686. There was agre ement among the results obtained from the diallel and the estimates of the parameter m + a of the populations. However, it was evident that the estimate of genetic variance of the populations should be consider ed as a condition to identify the hybrid population that will produce a line with high performance.