Fusarium wilt is one of the major diseases leading to great losses in banana crop in Brazil since most cultivars used are susceptible. The objective of the present work was to evaluate agronomical characteristics and resistance to Fusarium wilt in tetraploid banana hybrids. The experiment was carried out in the experimental field at Embrapa Cassava and Tropical Fruits in complete randomized design with 10 replicates of one plant each in the years 2000 and 2001. Fourteen tetraploids were evaluated: FHIA-03, PV03-44, PC42-01, PV42-53, PV42-68, PV42-81, PV42-85, PV42-129, PV42-142, PV42-143, SH3640, ST12-31, ST42-08 and YB42-21 and the Silk cultivar used as the control. The following characteristics were evaluated: plant height (m) and pseudostem diameter (cm) at 30 cm from the ground, bunch weight (kg), hand weight (kg) and fruit weight (g), number of hands per bunch, fruits per hand and days to flowering until harvest and Fusarium wilt incidence. The average of the genotypes were grouped by the Scott Knott test at 5% probability. There is a broad variation regarding the characteristics evaluated. The best genotypes are: FHIA 03, ST12-31, SH3640, PV42-142, PV42-53 and PV42-68 for presenting good agronomical characteristics as well as resistance to Fusarium wilt.
Musa spp.; evaluation; plant breeding; tetraploid; Fusarium
