ABSTRACT
Plant breeding has significantly contributed to the increase of productivity of several species, making evident its importance to agricultural development. This is achieved through selection schemes that rely on scientific criteria, using phenotypic measures that reflect the genotypic value of the individuals for the genes that control the trait under selection. However, most of the selected traits, such as sugarcane production, fiber content, stalk diameter, stalk length, stalk weight, among several others, are of quantitative nature, i.e., controlled by many genes whose expression is highly influenced by environmental action.
