Heaping as a clonal multiplication method of selected peach palm plants (Bactris gasipaes Kunth)

The peach palm (Bactris gasipaes Kunth) is a palm tree native to the Amazon, mainly cultivated for fruit, oil, and the heart of palm production. Rescuing vigorous plants is crucial to reproducing individuals with high productive potential. The shoots at the base of the mother plant allow propagation, but their survival depends on post-transplant adaptation. Heaping is a soil tillage and refers to the act of accumulating soil at the base of the plant to stimulate the growth of new roots and shoots. This work aimed to induce root development in peach palm shoots, cultivated in the field, isolated from the mother plant, and subjected to heaping. The selected shoots were isolated at two different times, in summer (March/2022) and winter (July/2022), and remained under this condition until evaluation (November/2022). All shoots that survived isolation developed adventitious roots and were transplanted to the field, where they remained for 90 days. The survival rate of shoots isolated in summer was 58%, and in winter it was 69%. This indicates no statistically significant difference in isolation time. The survival rate after transplanting was 74%, which shows that heaping provides conditions for the formation of new roots in peach palm shoots after isolation, allowing the formation of clonal seedlings.