Participatory breeding of squash under biodynamic management

Abstract

Squash is cultivated in many regions in Brazil, mainly by family farmers that produce their own seeds without, however, trying to improve the populations in each new cycle. The aim of this work was to evaluate the yield and the quality of fruits of squash populations obtained with the participatory breeding using stratified mass selection method in three generations cycles, in a biodynamic certificated family farm in Botucatu, São Paulo state, Brazil. There were two experiments comparing the original population and three cycles of selection. These experiments were conducted in experimental design of randomized blocks, with seven replications. The following features were evaluated: number of fruits per plant (total and commercial); percentage of commercial fruits; weight of fruits per plant (total and commercial); average fruit weight. The results indicated an increase in the frequency of plants with commercial fruits, and showed that the practice of participatory breeding is feasible for these conditions.