Selecting New \u3cem\u3eBrachiaria humidicola\u3c/em\u3e Hybrids for Western Brazilian Amazon

Brachiaria humidicola is a perennial and stoloniferous forage grass, with excellent adaptation to infertile soils and waterlogging. Producers in northern Brazil have become interested in this species, especially after the degradation of large areas of lowly permeable soils sown with B. brizantha cv. Marandu, which is highly intolerant of soil waterlogging (Andrade and Valentim 2006). However, since only 3 cultivars of B. humidicola are registered in Brazil (Mapa 2013), there is a need to develop new cultivars adapted to the range of environmental conditions experienced. Recently, Embrapa Beef Cattle obtained intraspecific hybrids of B. humidicola that need to be evaluated agronomically, aiming at subsequent grazing trials and future releases. The objective of this study was to evaluate and select apomictic and sexual hybrids of B. humidicola in the environmental conditions of the state of Acre, in western Brazilian Amazon