EVALUATION OF GROUNDNUT (Arachis hypogaea L.) GERMPLASMINNIGERSTATE FOR AGRONOMIC TRAITS
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ABSTRACT
Groundnut is an annual legume and one of the world’s most important oilseed crops. Inorder to access the genetic diversity of groundnut in Niger state, a germplasmcollectionmission was undertaken to three agricultural zones of the state. These zones represent themajor groundnut producing areas of Niger state. Fourty-five farmers were interviewedusing a validated questionnaire. The germplasm collected were evaluated for agromorphological parameters at the experimental garden of Department of Plant Biology, Federal University of Technology Minna, Nigeria using Randomize Complete BlockDesign (RCBD) with three replicates. All the accessions were characterized intodistinct genotypes base on agromorpholocal, fatty acid composition and pollen parameters. Atotal of thirty-seven (37) accessions of groundnut were collected from the farmers andsix(6)improved varieties from Niger State Agricultural Development Project. The highest number(4) of groundnut accessions was collected from Lapai Local government while Gbako, Bida, Lavun, Paikoro, Agaie,Shiroro, Bosso, Kontagora and Katcha Local Government had3accessions each. Two accessions each were collected from Borgu, Rijau and AgwaraLocal Government. There were significant differences (P<0.05) for most of the parametersstudied. Accession NG-SHI-036 had the highest plant height (35.33 cm). AccessionNG-PAK-030 had the highest number of leaves (340.00) and accession NG-LAP-028hadthehighest number of branches (16.00). Accession NG-AGW-009 had the least number ofdays to 50% flowering (27.33 days) and maturity (87.33 days). Accession NG-SHI-036hadthe highest number of pod per plant (49.67); SAMNUT22 had the highest 100 seedweight (56.55g), 100 pod weight (132.70g) and shelling percentage (58.06 %). The result of pollenparameters revealed that SAMNUT26 had the highest pollen production (4803.33) andaccession NG-SHI-036 had the highest percentage fertility (92.00%). The result of thepollen germinability revealed that in 10% and 20% sucrose concentration, NG-SHI-036hadthe highest percentage germinability of 27.00% and 75.33% respectively. The dendrogramof the agro morphological parameters cluster the accessions into four major groups. Genotype NG-SHI-036 had the highest oil percentage (53.17%). Accessions NG-SHI-036, NG-GBA-014 and NG-LAV-024 were the best in terms of fatty acid composition. Thisstudy has provided some useful baseline information about important traits in the variousgroundnut accessions in Niger State. Such traits should be exploited for the improvement ofthe crop in the future.
