Abstract
Effective selection of hybrids for a trait is based on the extent of variation and heritability. This study examined yield parameters of secondary triploid ‘Matooke’ hybrids and the extent of their genetic diversity based on the traits evaluated. Eleven genotypes, including nine ‘Matooke’ hybrids and two landraces were evaluated for 12 characters in a preliminary yield trial (PYT) over three crop cycles. Plant height, bunch weight, number of standing leaves at flowering and the youngest leaf spotted with black Sigatoka symptoms showed significant interaction between genotype and crop cycle. While characters such as pseudo stem girth, number of days for fruit filling, number of hands, number of fingers on the second hand and the fruit length showed stable differences amongst these genotypes. The genotypic coefficient of variation for the characters ranged from 7.6% (finger length) to 33.5% (bunch weight); with moderate heritability estimates varying from 13.5% (pseudostem girth) to 67% (plant height). Bunch weight showed strong positive correlation with number of hands, number of fingers on the second hand, the fruit length and pseudostem girth. These results imply that breeders could select for some of these variable and ratoon stable traits in a single cycle of early evaluation trial, subsequently reducing costs, time and space in field testing. Key words: Genetic variation, heritability, expected genetic gain, selection, Musa sp.
Highlights
Banana (Musa sp.) is the eighth most important global food commodity after maize, wheat, rice, potato, cassava, soybean and barley (FAOSTAT, 2013)
Mean squares in the combined analysis of variance for 12 traits were significant for nine of the traits including plant height (HT), bunch weight (Bwt), number of standing leaves at flowering (NSL), the youngest leaf spotted with black Sigatoka symptoms (YLS), pseudo stem girth (G), number of days for fruit filling (DFF), number of fingers on the second hand (FHDS2), number of hands (HDS) and fruit length (FL) (Table 2)
Plant height (HT), bunch weight (Bwt), number of standing leaves at flowering (NSL) and the youngest leaf spotted with black Sigatoka symptoms(YLS) show significant interaction between genotype and crop cycle
Summary
Banana (Musa sp.) is the eighth most important global food commodity after maize, wheat, rice, potato, cassava, soybean and barley (FAOSTAT, 2013). It is grown in more than 100 countries, with an annual production of around 150 million metric tonnes. Cultural control involves manipulation of environment of the plant host and the parasite It is a continuous and tedious process for the farmers and can only work in the short run. Genetic improvement of bananas to produce cultivars with host plant resistance and other desirable agronomic traits is complicated by low genetic variability, polyploidy nature and the low levels of female and /or male fertility in most widely grown triploid clones (Rowe, 1984; Hilber, 1997; Tezenas du Montcel et al, 1996; Pillay et al, 2002; Ssebuliba et al 2006). This study was undertaken to evaluate components of genetic variance and to estimate the heritability between the various yield components of ‘Matooke’ hybrids
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