Abstract
Local accessions of African Yam Bean, a poorly studied and under-utilized but important food crop, from Abia, Akwa Ibom and Cross River states of Southern Nigeria were studied for variation in seed yield and pod characteristics. Correlations were carried out on the studied characters to determine the degree of mutual association among them while path coefficient analysis was used to partition the correlation coefficients into their direct and indirect effects on seed yield. Results revealed that significant differences (p<0.01) exist among the accessions with respect to the studied characters. Mean number of seeds per pod ranged from 13.27 to 18.87; seed weight per pod from 3.19 to 6.21g; weight of 100 seeds from 22.86 to 36.72g; pod length from 21.67 to 36.82 cm and pod width ranged from 0.79 to 1.05 cm. Number of seeds per pod and pod length had significant positive association with seed weight per pod. Pod width also correlated positively with seed weight in some accessions. Positive direct effects on seed weight per pod were obtained with number of seeds per pod and pod length. The results taken together revealed significant variations in the accessions and provide evidence for effective selection which is a prerequisite for genetic improvement. Key words: Sphenostylis stenocarpa, accessions, variation, correlation, path coefficient analysis.
Highlights
Food security and sustainability are currently of serious global concern and many indigenous African crops that show promise in providing nutritional securities are presently neglected and under-utilized (Adewale and Odoh, 2012)
Local accessions of African Yam Bean, a poorly studied and under-utilized but important food crop, from Abia, Akwa Ibom and Cross River states of Southern Nigeria were studied for variation in seed yield and pod characteristics
In view of the critical need to genetically improve African yam bean as well as contribute literature to this poorly studied but important food crop, this study was aimed at examining some local accessions of African yam bean from southern Nigeria for variations in pod and seed yield characters, measuring the degree of association between seed yield and related characters as well as partitioning the computed correlation coefficients into their direct and indirect effects on yield
Summary
Food security and sustainability are currently of serious global concern and many indigenous African crops that show promise in providing nutritional securities are presently neglected and under-utilized (Adewale and Odoh, 2012). Rich) Harms), despite its enormous nutritional potential, represents one of such under-utilized crops in Nigeria, Ghana and many tropical African countries (Amoatey et al, 2000; Olasoji et al, 2011; Akande et al, 2012). In Nigeria, it is cultivated mainly in the southern and middle belt regions, but is found in other West African countries including Ghana, Togo, Cote’d Ivoire, Cameroon and Central Africa (Klu et al, 2001). African yam bean is used as food or food components and provides two consumable products: The tuber which grows as the root source and the actual yam beans which develop in pods above ground (Olasoji et al, 2011).
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