The use of the Papadakis method to estimate the genetic values in soybean breeding programs is not frequent. The objective of this work was to quantify the alterations in the experimental errors and in estimation of the genetic values caused by the use of the Papadakis method, when analyzing trials with soybean pure lines. Yield data of pure lines related to 216 experiments, at different plant breeding stages and plant cycles (late, medium and early lines) were used. The experimental design was in randomized block and the experimental units were formed by four rows, six meters long and 0.4 m between rows. The general mean, environmental, genetic and phenotypic variances, genetic and experimental error variation coefficients, heritability coefficient and selective accuracy were obtained for each trial. The same variables were obtained by using the Papadakis method. The genetic values such as genetic variation coefficient, mean heritability coefficient and selective accuracy presented higher values with Papadakis method, regardless of plant breeding stages and maturity groups. The use of the method of Papadakis is recommended in soybean breeding programs improvement, which may improve the estimated genetic gain in selection between advanced pure lines.
Glycine max L.; covariance; soybean improvement; experimental error; experimental precision
