Potential of a population of Eucalyptus benthamii based on growth and technological characteristics of wood

The study of the potential of a plant population makes the selection of a breeding program more efficient, allowing satisfactory genetic gains and identifying the potential of this population, among others, for advances in generations. The genetic potential of Eucalyptus benthamii is still poorly studied. This species has relevant characteristics for increasing productivity, frost tolerance and, mainly, the quality of wood, with an emphasis on cellulose production. The goal of this study was to evaluate the potential of a sample of Eucalyptus individuals for suitability of use, based on technological characteristics and wood growth through uni, bi, and multivariate techniques. The genetic material sampled comes from a test of progenies of E. benthamii, 4 years old from the company CMPC Celulose Riograndense. The sample consisted of 75 individuals of E. benthamii and three individuals of three other species that were used as controls (E. saligna, E. grandis and E. dunnii), totaling 87 individuals, chosen by industrial criteria. The population of E. benthamii under study has good potential to be explored through selective techniques in view of the witnesses used, considering the descriptive statistics, the association of characteristics and analysis of factors. Also, enabling the selection of superior materials within this sampling.