FRUIT PRODUCTION AND ENVIRONMENT CHARACTERIZATION OF THE OCCURRENCE OF NATIVE PLANTS OF ARATICUM IN THE CERRADO OF GOIAS STATE

This Study had the objective to evaluate the production of araticum fruits in the Cerrado of the Goias State. Fourteen areas with hi-h natural occurrences of araticum in the whole state were selected from January 2000 to July 2002. In each area, thirty to forty mother trees were selected. The experimental research corresponds to the hierarchical model for the fruit production, and that means that the original data was submitted to an analysis of variance. The spatial phenotypic structure variation among populations was investigated through dendrograms by the UPGMA linking criterion. The results demonstrated that the production of araticum fruits is low and changeable in areas and years, and the average corresponds to 2.97 usable fruits and 1.37 not usable fruits per plant. The phenotypic variation of morphologic characters between populations of araticum of the Goias state does not present a standard of space arrangement. The production of fruits per plant is very changeable, since some plants present productive and apparent quality characteristics of fruits that make them potential plants matrix. The main pests that attack the fruits of araticum are: Spermologus funereus, Cerconota anonella and Bephratelloides pomorum. The anthropic pressure oil natural environments of production of araticum has reduced the current production and call make the future productions impracticable.