Genetic variability which is the basic material for selection and improvement of any crop is fast eroding in pearl millet as natural habitats of wild cultivated species are being destroyed and modern cultivars replacing the traditional cultivars. On this premise collection and characterisation of the crop germplasm was carried to identify elite accession(s) for the crop improvement. Thirty five (35) pearl millet accessions collected from the major cultivated states in Nigeria were evaluated for morphological and yield parameters using a Randomised Complete Block Design (RCBD) with replicate three each. Wide range of significant (P < 0.05) variability was observed in all the morphological characters assessed with different trait been favoured by different genotypes. The highest plant height was recorded in KD-CK-01 (371.85 cm) and the least height in accession NG-ZA-05 with the value of 170.58 cm. Accession NG-ZC-03 had the highest weight of seeds per plot and weight of seeds per hectare with the value of 738.52 g and 1318.78 kg/ha respectively. Phenotypic coefficient of variance was higher than the corresponding genotypic coefficient variance for all the traits studied. Moderate (30-60%) to high (>60%) heritability was obtained among the traits studied while genetic advanced ranged from 21.92 to 127.27. Cluster analysis grouped the accessions into four major clusters based on their morphological similarity; cluster I consisting 14.29% of the genotypes, 17.14% in cluster II, 40.00% in cluster III and 28.57% were clustered in IV. The high variability recorded in the germplasm couple with high heritability and genetic advance in most of the parameters studied, indicate that the accessions and traits could be explored in the crop improvement.
The mutagenic effects of gamma irradiation on the agro-morphological traits of eggplant accessions were investigated to induce useful genetic variability for further breeding programme. Seeds of two eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum L.) accessions (MN/S/02/2015 and NHGB/09/132) were collected from the National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NAGRAB) Ibadan, Nigeria. The seeds were exposed to five different gamma irradiation doses (40 Gy, 60 Gy, 80 Gy, 100 Gy) and un-irradiated (0 Gy) as control at
This study was carried out to evaluate the genetic variability among twenty (20) wild cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) accessions collected from National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB) Ibadan, Nigeria. The seeds of wild cowpeas were planted in the Experimental Garden of Plant Biology, Federal University of Technology Minna and nurtured to maturity. The experiment was laid in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with five replicates each and assessed for agro-morphological and yield parameters. The results showed significant deference (p≤0.05) in most of all the morphological parameters studied. NGB-001145 showed the highest plant height at maturity (26.10 cm), while NGB-001158 had the least plant height at maturity (14.90 cm). NGB-001033 had some superior qualities with earliest mean days (44.40) to flowering, highest number of branches at maturity (7.20) and highest number of pod per plant with the mean of 104.00 pods. The least number of branches a maturity (4.00) and number of pod per plant (22.80) were obtained from accessions NGB-001128 and NGB-001034 respectively. NGB-001145 showed the highest number of seeds per pod (13.40), while NGB-00994 recorded the least number of seeds per pod with the mean value of 5.40. NGB-001166 had the highest seed weight (4.68 g) and NGB-001934 had the least seed weight (2.08 g). The high morphological variability observed among the wild cowpea in this study indicated the presence of good and useful traits in the crop which could be explored for its improvement.
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