Adaptability and stability assessment of bean cultivars of the carioca commercial group by a Bayesian approach

Abstract

To develop new bean commercial cultivars, a series of experiments called Value for Cultivation and Use (VCU) assays are necessary. Bayesian analysis using information on prior VCU trials is an alternative to obtain greater precision during genotype selection. The objective of the present work was to select, under a Bayesian perspective, genotypes of the carioca bean from the state of Paraná that combine high adaptability and phenotypic stability, using information from previous VCU assays. This study used data from six experiments conducted in a randomized block design, in which the grain yield of 18 genotypes was assayed. To represent weakly informative prior distributions, the study used probability distributions with high variance; to represent informative prior distributions, it adopted the meta-analysis concept used in prior VCU assays (2007/2008, 2008/2009, 2009/2010, 2010/2011, 2011/2012, 2012/2013, and 2013/2014). Bayesian inference provided greater precision in selecting carioca bean genotypes with high adaptability and phenotypical stability through the Eberhart and Russell method. The Bayes factor indicated that the use of a priori information gives more accurate results for genotype selection. According to the study, most genotypes are widely adaptable based on informative priors, except for the Bola Cheia cultivar, which has specific adaptability to favorable environments.