Yield Components and Yield Stability Performance of Some Nigerian Accessions of Bambara Groundnut [Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.] in Six Environments

Abstract

Background: Bambara groundnut accessions over the years had been unstable in its yield potentials with contrasting yield inferences, factors not limited to variety, soil types and nutrients, climate change, time had been bottlenecks for scientist to breakthrough in stability research. Field experiments were conducted in three years at two locations to assess and identify accessions with stable yield and determine the relationship between yield and yield components. Methods: Seeds of 100 accessions of Bambara groundnut of Nigerian origin were obtained from the genebank of the Genetic Resources Center, IITA in 2017. Randomized complete block design (RCBD) was used in the evaluation for three years in two locations. PROC ANOVA procedure on the statistical analytical system (SAS, 9.4) was used to determine significant differences and stability equation was used to identify yield stable index. Result: Correlation showed that seven yield contributing traits had positive and significant correlation with yield per hectare. Yield stability analysis indicated nine of the selected accessions were stable in the expression of its yield potentials in the environments and years. This study showed that selection for high yielding and stable accessions could be useful for further utilization of genetic resources in achieving food security.