Abstract
This study analyzed the morphological characteristics and agronomic potentials of yam varieties (Dioscorea spp.) collected across the Guinea Sudan transition zone of Benin. Dioscorea cayenensis - D. rotundata varieties were characterized as wingless; some varieties were spineless, others had few or dense, robust or thin, and short or prickled spines. There was variation in leaf shape, stem and leaf colour, tuber shapes and forking tendencies. The tuber flesh presented different colours, texture, oxidation colour, oxidation time, and ability to irritate. Dioscorea alata varieties were all spineless and showed winged stems, pentagonal or quadrangular. Various leaf and petiole colours, and tuber shapes were observed. On average, the mean Shannon-Weaver index was 0.86 for the external morphology of the tuber, 0.55 for tuber flesh characteristics, and 1.13 for stem and leaf morphology. The pooled mean yield varied between 0.89 and 3.30 kg/heap for the early maturing varieties of the D. cayenensis - D. rotundata, between 0.94 and 3.03 kg/heap for the late varieties, and ranged from 1.45 to 4.17 kg/heap for the D. alata varieties. The year effect was highly significant for variety-type group and species, and was larger than the genotypic effect. The genotype by year interaction effects were highly significant. Key words: Dioscorea spp., genotype by environment interaction, yield, yam varieties’ traits, Benin.
Highlights
Yam represents an important component of West African agriculture and contributes to the food security for large parts of the populations of West Africa, in Benin
Tubers of 70 cultivars of the Dioscorea cayenensis - D. rotundata and 20 cultivars of D. alata were collected from farmers across the transitional Guinea-Sudan zone of Benin and were subsequently planted to analyze their morphological characteristics (Table 1)
Data were collected and analyzed on three different groups of variables. These groups comprised eight tuber flesh characteristics; ten characteristics relating to the external morphology of the tubers, and eight leaf or stem characteristics
Summary
Yam represents an important component of West African agriculture and contributes to the food security for large parts of the populations of West Africa, in Benin. In addition to its economic and nutritional values, yam plays a significant role in the cultural life of rural communities in Benin (Zannou et al, 2004; Zannou et al, 2007). Yam production and yield patterns are of economic importance to the livelihood of farmers in the region (Oluwasusi and Tijani, 2013). Little information exists on agronomic and morphological characteristics.
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