Cropping season affect the performance of basil cultivars and hybrids

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate the performance of basil cultivars and hybrids in two cropping seasons. The experiments were conducted in a randomized block design, with three replications. Twenty-four basil genotypes were tested (20 commercial cultivars and four hybrids), in the dry season (oct.-dec./2015) and in the rainy season (apr.-jun./2016). The evaluated variables were: plant height (cm plant^-1), canopy width (cm plant^-1), leaf dry weight (g plant^-1), and essential oil yield (mL plant^-1). The data of each period were subject to analysis of variance and the means were grouped by the Scott-Knott test (p≤0.05). The individual and joint analyses of variance were performed for the experiments in both seasons. The estimated parameters were: coefficient of genetic variation (CV_g), coefficient of environmental variation (CV_e), CV_g/CV_e ratio, and heritability (h²). Leaf dry weight values per plant ranged from 6.23 to 75.00 g plant^-1 (dry season) and from 9.17 to 31.34 g plant^-1 (rainy season). The hybrid Cinnamon x Maria Bonita (1.50 mL plant^-1) and the cultivar Mrs. Burns (1.44 mL plant^-1) presented higher essential oil yield in the dry season. All the evaluated variables showed high heritability (h²) (> 50%) and CV_g/CV_e ratio (> 1.0), in both cropping seasons, indicating a favorable condition for selection. The cropping season influences the biomass and essential oil yield of basil.