GENETIC VARIABILITY FOR CHARACTERS OF AGRONOMIC IMPORTANCE IN HALF SIB FAMILIES OF MILLET, SOWED AT DRY WINTER SEASON

In Brazil, demands do exist for pearl millet cultivars for grain production,forage and biomass. However, only a reduced number of cultivars is now available in the market. The objective of this research was to study the genetic variability for biomassproduction and grains yield, as well as other characters of agronomic importance, in apopulation of pearl millet submitted to a family selection program, at dry winter season.For this, half sibs families originated from a composite formed by the natural crossing ofcultivars HKP, Guerguera and Souna III, and later submitted to three intercross cycles,were used. Ten percent of the best plants were selected, with phenotypic basis for numberof viable tillers, panicles length and mass production, evaluated visually, obtaining 144half sib families that were sowed on the 27/03/2003, in the Experimental Field ofUFRuralRJ (Seropédica, Brazil), in a triple lattice 12 x 12. Each plot was made up of afive-meter line, containing 10 plants. Spacing was of 0.5 m between plants and 0.5 mbetween lines. Among the appraised characters, the ones that offered larger selectionopportunity were panicle dry weight with a mean heritability, h2m = 0.51 and a responseto family selection, in percent of the mean, GSEF% = 22.60; straw (stems and leafs); dryweight (h2m = 0.53 and GSEF% = 19.33), total dry weight (stems, leafs and panicles) (h2m =0.54 and GSEF% = 20,37), panicles average length (h2m = 0.69 and GSEF% = 12.37) andmainly grain yield (h2m = 0.54 and GSEF% = 35.32). The values h2m (0.06) and GSEF% (1.65)for panicles number show that this characteristic should not be recommended to selection