Abstract
Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo constitutes an area where the East African Highland bananas (Musa-AAA-EA) and plantains (Musa-AAB) meet. However, Musa diversity in this region has never been characterized nor represented in national or international collections, yet increasing human activities and build-up of pests and diseases, especially Xanthomonas wilt of banana and banana bunchy top disease, could negatively affect this diversity. This study assessed, collected and morphologically characterized on-farm Musa diversity in the North Kivu and Ituri provinces. Musa accessions collected were added to the UCG-Butembo in situ field collection. A total of 90 and 150 farms were assessed, respectively, in the North Kivu and Ituri provinces. High Musa variability was observed in both provinces. Forty-one cultivars (six presumed new) were identified in Ituri Province compared to 38 cultivars (13 presumed new) in North Kivu Province. Nineteen cultivars occurred in both provinces. Beni and Lubero territories in North Kivu and Mambasa territory in Ituri Province had greater Musa diversity, varying between 27 and 38 cultivars, approximately double of the number of cultivars observed in the other territories. Twenty-three of the 34 Musa descriptors contributed more to the discrimination of the cultivars identified across the provinces and were therefore used for grouping the cultivars using principal component analysis (PCA). The Morisita index of similarity between Ituri Province and North Kivu Province territories was less than 0.5, suggesting dissimilarity in diversity between these sites. Six cultivars: ‘Kirisirya’, ‘Pakuma’, ‘Nziravahima’, ‘Vuhindi’, ‘Tundu’ and ‘Kisubi musa’ were reportedly at risk of genetic erosion. Key words: Banana, conservation, cultivars, ex-situ, genetic erosion, genotypes, plantain.
Highlights
Bananas and plantains (Musa spp.) are an important staple and income-generating crop for millions of people in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world (Robinson and Galán Saúco, 2010)
This study sought to explore Musa diversity in the North Kivu and Ituri provinces, morphologically characterize it and conserve newly identified Musa cultivars in the Butembo provincial Musa collection for purposes of Musa crop improvement and development
North Kivu Province has three agro-ecological zones characterised by low, medium and high altitudes that promote the diversity of both plantains and highland banana cultivars (Ocimati et al, 2013b), with the mid-high supporting AAA-EA cooking and beer cultivars, while the low altitude and humid areas supporting plantains
Summary
Bananas and plantains (Musa spp.) are an important staple and income-generating crop for millions of people in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world (Robinson and Galán Saúco, 2010). Eastern DR Congo constitutes an exceptional area where the East African Highland bananas (AAA-EA genome) and plantains (AAB genome) meet This exceptionally high Musa diversity is attributed to the presence of three agro-ecological zones characterised by high, medium and low altitude sites (Ndungo, 2002; Ocimati et al, 2013b). The combination of easy vegetative propagation and a slow breeding process due to meiotic failures during gametogenesis (Ortiz et al, 1995; Vuylsteke et al, 1995) increases the vulnerability of the Musa crop This has resulted in a very limited genetic diversity within the African plantain and East African Highland banana cultivars (Noyer et al, 2005; Kitavi et al, 2016), further exposing the crop to the risk of genetic erosion. Musa genetic erosion could potentially be worsened by climate change
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