The objective of this study was to evaluate the speed of establishment of accessions of Arachis repens and Arachis pintoi with the purpose of selecting materials capable of producing adequate quantities of high quality forage, according to the requirements of the intensive cattle production systems of Acre. The experimental design was a randomized block with four replications. The treatments consisted of two accessions of Arachis repen, seven accession and two cultivars of Arachis pintoi, identified as promising for the environmental conditions of Rio Branco, Acre. The control treatment was A. pintoi cv. Amarillo. The accessions Ap 65, Ap 39 and Ar 10, with performance similar to the cultivars Amarillo and Belmonte, were selected because of their excellent speed of establishment with index of survival of stolon and rhizome plantings and ground cover higher than 80% and length of stolons above 85 cm, respectively, 50, 70 and 120 days after planting. These genotypes showed DM yields above 2,300 kg/ha, DM accumulation rates equal or superior to 20 kg/ha/day and crude protein content ranging from 17.9 to 21.7%, at the end of the establishment period. Among the four heterotic groups, the one consisting of accession Ap 39 outranked the others by presenting high mean values for all the characteristics evaluated according to the cluster analysis by the Tocher Optimization Method, based on the generalized Mahalanobis. For the recommendation of the promising accessions for use in the intensive cattle production systems in Acre, additional studies should be conducted in relation to: 1) dry matter yield and quality during the rainy and dry seasons; 2) occurrence of pests and diseases; 3) seed production; 4) adaptation to low permability soils; 5) compatibility with grasses and shrub and tree species; 6) animal production and persistence under grazing.
Amarillo; Arachis pintoi; Arachis repens; Belmonte; genetic diversity; legume
