Genetic Inheritance and Yield Performance of Bambara Groundnut Genotypes Based on Seed Weight

Abstract

Though many studies on gene action of yield and yield related traits have been conducted on bambara groundnut, none of these focused on seed size and weight. Hence, this study was conducted to established inheritance pattern based on seed weight. Five bambara groundnut genotypes from Nigeria, namely Giwa, Duna, Cancaraki, Jatau, and Maiki were evaluated in randomized complete block design with three replication. The seeds of each genotype were grouped into three seed weight categories namely large, medium and small-seed size. Data were collected on 12 agromorphological traits and statistical analysis was conducted using SAS version 9.4 and variance component and heritability were estimated for each character. The present study revealed significant levels of variability among the five genotypes, fifteen combinations of seed size and genotypes, seed size categories and interaction of genotypes and seed size categories for most of the yield and yield components. High values of genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) coupled with genetic advance (GA) were reported for the number of medium seed per plant, total large seed weight per plant, total medium seed weight per plant and hundred seeds weight, while moderate GCV was observed for the total number of seed per plant. But the phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) was higher than GCV for all characters. Moderate broad-sense heritability for 100SW is responsible for the selection of this particular trait. Among the combination, G5S is the best for yield and yielding traits, while genotypes G3 is the best for yield and yield components, whereas among the seed size categories small seed size showed the high yield and yielding components.

Keywords: Inheritance, yield performance, Bambara groundnut, seed weight.