Abstract
Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea L. Verdc.) is considered an emerging crop for the future and known as a crop for the new millennium. The core intention of this research work was to estimate the variation of landraces of Bambara groundnut considering their 14 qualitative and 27 numerical traits, to discover the best genotype fitted in Malaysia. The findings of the ANOVA observed a highly significant variation (p ≤ 0.01) for all the traits evaluated. There was a substantial variation (7.27 to 41.21%) coefficient value, and 14 out of the 27 numerical traits noted coefficient of variation (CV) ≥ 20%. Yield (kg/ha) disclosed positively strong to perfect high significant correlation (r = 0.75 to 1.00; p ≤ 0.001) with traits like fresh pod weight, dry pod weight, and dry seed weight. The topmost PCV and GCV values were estimated for biomass dry (41.09%) and fresh (40.53%) weight with high heritability (Hb) and genetic advance (GA) Hb = 95.19%, GA = 80.57% and Hb = 98.52%, GA = 82.86%, respectively. The topmost heritability was recorded for fresh pod weight (99.89%) followed by yield (99.75%) with genetic advance 67.95% and 62.03%, respectively. The traits with Hb ≥ 60% and GA ≥ 20% suggested the least influenced by the environment as well as governed by the additive genes and direct selection for improvement of such traits can be beneficial. To estimate the genetic variability among accessions, the valuation of variance components, coefficients of variation, heritability, and genetic advance were calculated. To authenticate the genetic inequality, an unweighted pair group produced with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) and principal component analysis was executed based on their measurable traits that could be a steadfast method for judging the degree of diversity. Based on the UPGMA cluster analysis, constructed five distinct clusters and 44 accessions from clusters II and IV consider an elite type of genotypes that produce more than one ton yield per hectare land with desirable traits. This study exposed an extensive disparity among the landraces and the evidence on genetic relatives will be imperative in using the existing germplasm for Bambara groundnut varietal improvement. Moreover, this finding will be beneficial for breeders to choose the desirable numerical traits of V. subterranea in their future breeding program.
Highlights
Like other African countries, the Bambara groundnut is vastly grown in Nigeria as a legume crop [40]; besides the African continent, the secondary center of cultivation of Bambara groundnut is in the Asian region like Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Philippines, India, and Brazil [21]
The research work has experimented under the Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Food Security (ITAFoS), University Agricultural Research Park, University Putra Malaysia (UPM), Malaysia
The lowest estimated values for genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) had 6.74% for shelling percent, whereas the lowest phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) values were found 7.26% for the trait days to maturity. The estimated both GCV and PCV values were found more than 20% for the traits such as number of stem per plant (PCV 23.51% and GCV 22.08%), biomass fresh (PCV 40.83% and GCV 40.53%) and dry (PCV 41.09% and GCV 40.09%) weight, fresh (PCV 33.02% and GCV 33%) and dry (PCV 30.18% and GCV 30.14%) pod weight, dry seed weight (PCV 26.31% and GCV 25.68%), and yield (PCV 30.19% and GCV 30.15%) kg/ha which indicate high variability among these traits and for the improvement of accession further selection could be done since the variation of these traits is due to the effect of additive genes
Summary
The breeding technique of Bambara groundnut is undefined, and there are no high-yielding cultivars available in Malaysia and local landraces of this crop are still grown. This research work emphasize the morphological performance of 150 Bambara groundnut accessions with a view of exploring the variation that exists among the traits with an aim of selection for high yield and further help to the selection of elite genotypes in breeding and agricultural improvement programs. The pinpoint of this research was to discover the genetic divergence in different qualitative and numerical traits of Bambara groundnut with a certain goal (like high yield) of determination of variance component, heritability, genetic advance, and clustering, based on the selection intensity of the accessions with potentially high-yielding criteria
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