Fiber production repeatability and selection of promising fique (Furcraea spp.) genotypes

Abstract

Globally, natural fibers are important at reducing the using nonrecyclable synthetic fibers; therefore, cultivating fique can help supply the demand for nonplastic packaging in the Colombian and international markets. Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria has a working collection of fique located at La Selva‐Rionegro Research Center (Antioquia‐Colombia). This work evaluated the repeatability coefficient of 68 Furcraea accessions harvested from 2019 to 2022. Repeatability coefficients of 0.293 and 0.149 were found for total dry fiber yield and dry fiber percentage, respectively. The yield‐stability selection index was calculated for the evaluated traits, by which 10 promising accessions were selected, representing 14% of the evaluated population. In addition, correlation coefficients were calculated between productive variables and some meteorological variables (accumulated rainfall, average maximum, and minimum temperatures, and accumulated solar radiation. The accumulated rainfall at 101 days showed the highest correlation with values of 0.429 and 0.488 for the total dry fiber production and the percentage of dry fiber, respectively. The average minimum temperature presented positive correlations with the productive performance of fique.