Evaluation of taro (Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott) germplasm collection in South Africa
2019
Gerrano, A. S. | Van Rensburg, W. S Jansen | Bairu, M. | Venter, S.
The field experiments were conducted at Empageni in KwaZulu Natal and Nelspruit in Mpumalanga provinces in South Africa in the 2013/2014 cropping season to estimate the level of genetic variability among a collection of 29 Amadumbe genotypes. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design, with three replications. Ten quantitative morphological traits were recorded. Combined analysis of variance for the traits revealed that differences among Amadumbe genotypes were highly significant for all traits except for corm length. This indicated that there was a high level of genetic variability among the genotypes studied. The trait association analysis showed that most of the traits were positively correlated among each other. Yield was positively and highly significantly correlated with corm breadth, corm diameter, leaf length, leaf width, and plant height. The principal component analysis also showed the total variability among the genotypes. Cluster analysis of the phenotypic traits resulted in different distinct groups of genotypes. It separated and grouped the genotypes into three clusters based on the relationship in their genetic characteristics. The quantitative traits, therefore, provide a useful measure of genetic distances among the Amadumbe genotypes and will enable the identification of potential parental materials for future breeding efforts for increased production, which will contribute towards a direct economic benefit for the community and an improvement in the status of the crop. The Amadumbe genotypes Acc 43,Umbu 2and 2053Ex provided the highest yield compared to the rest of the genotypes and are recommended as suitable parental lines for production and improvement in South Africa.
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