Yield stability evaluation of peanut lines: A comparison of an experimental versus a simulation approach

The assessment of yield stability of crop breeding lines requires data from multi-locations in order to be able to represent a sufficient number of different environments. In addition, the variation in yield of the test lines not only reflects the differential responses of the genotypes to different soil and climatic conditions, which are of primary concern to breeders, but also results from the effects of several other factors and the micro-environmental variability within the sites. Crop simulation models have the potential to assist in overcoming these difficulties. The objective of this investigation was to evaluate the potential application of the CROPGRO-Peanut model for yield stability assessment of advanced peanut lines. A group of 12 large-seeded Virginia type of peanut advanced breeding lines that was under multi-location evaluation at the regional yield trial stage in Thailand from 1998 to 1999 was used. These lines were tested in farmers’ fields and research stations in the northeastern and northern regions of Thailand during both the rainy and dry seasons of 1998–1999, totaling 10 different environments. The CROPGRO-Peanut model was used to simulate yield of the individual lines for the same environments in which they were tested. Both the observed and simulated yields were subjected to a stability analysis using a conventional regression model. The results showed that the CROPGRO-Peanut model predicted the relative mean pod yields over 10 test environments of the test peanut lines reasonably well; five out of the six highest yielding lines (top 50%) were identified by both experimentation and simulation. The model also gave estimates of the regression coefficients of individual genotype means over the site mean yields that were in good agreement with those obtained from actual testing. Some discrepancies were observed, but these were seen as providing additional information for the responses of the test genotypes to environmental factors that were not accounted for by the model. It was concluded that the CROPGRO-Peanut model could be a valuable tool for the evaluation of peanut breeding lines for yield stability.