Selection of earliness peanut accessions for genetic improvement in a water-restricted environment

Peanut production is growing annually in Brazil, but with frequent droughts throughout the country, it is necessary to identify an earliness germplasm for the improved environmental adaptation of peanuts. Here, a mini-core collection of peanuts was studied to select germplasms for further use in breeding, with a focus on dry environments. Twelve agronomic traits were adopted and later used in multivariate methods based on hierarchical models (UPGMA) and graphical dispersion (canonical variables), which aimed to identify earliness accession clusters. Statistically significant differences were found for most traits, indicating that there was genetic variability among accessions. Multivariate analyses subsequently revealed coherence in the formation of three clusters, one of which (G3: PI-268-689 and AHK-85-3) combined the most promising accessions for pod production and reproductive efficiency, previously identified through analysis of variance. Therefore, both germplasms are recommended here for use in future breeding studies focused on water-restricted environments.