Agro morphological diversity of Yams (Dioscorea spp.) Landraces from Southwest Ethiopia assessed through quantitative and qualitative traits

Abstract

Yams (Dioscorea spp.) are an important crop widely cultivated for food, feed and medicine in different areas of the world. Knowledge on genetic diversity among yam landraces is essential for breeding and conservation strategies. The objective of this study was to assess the level of genetic diversity present among yam landraces using morphological traits. Thirty-six yam landraces were phenotyped at at Jimma Agricultural Research Center during 2015/16 growing season. The experiment was laid out in 6x6 simple lattice design with two replications. Data were collected on nine quantitative and ten qualitative traits, and subjected to hierarchal cluster, correlation and principal component analyses. A dendrogram was constructed using the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean. Tuber fresh weight showed a positive and significant association with tuber length and tuber diameter. The principal component analysis revealed five important principal components that accounted for 56.9% of the total variation observed among landraces. Principal components 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, respectively, correlated with leaf length, leaf width and vine length A dendrogram revealed three main clusters of landraces. The most diverse landraces identified were 27/02, 21/02, 06/2000 and 68/02, which are useful for breeding and conservation. The diversity observed among the yam landraces could be useful in improvement of yams for various traits.