A total of fourty two maize hybrids produced through a full diallel mating design and seven parental inbred lines were evaluated in three sites located at different agro-ecological zones in Kenya to determine the genetic parameters governing the inheritance of grain yield and related agronomical traits. The genetic parameters studied among the traits included the mean performance, genotypic variances, phenotypic variances, genotype by environment variances, broad sense heritability and phenotypic and genotypic correlation coefficients. Significant differences were recorded for all traits studied thereby revealing the diversity of the maize genotypes. The grain yield and days to maturity which showed high heritability had low genotypic variances suggesting the involvement of non-additive gene action which could be utilized through heterosis breeding. Ear height and plant height showed the highest heritability and high genotypic variances suggesting the preponderance of additive gene action. Grain yield was positively and strongly correlated with ear height and plant height. The tall plants with high ear placement gave better yields and this could be attributed to the high dry matter accumulation function carried out by the high number of leaves possessed. The positive relationships observed in this study imply that the desirable traits in these hybrids could be exploited in further breeding activities for the development of composites and synthetics for the resource constrained maize farmers who cannot access hybrid seeds every year.

Maize is an important staple crop for millions of people in Sub-Saharan Africa. The crop grows in a wide range of environmental conditions. The present study was performed to analyze the genotype-by-environment (G×E) interaction for grain yield of fourty two single cross hybrids grown in three environments located at different agro-ecological zones of Kenya. The maize genotypes were grown in randomized complete block design with three replicates in 2006 and 2007. Grain yield data of the single cross hybrids was analysed using the additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) and GGE biplot methods. The additive main effects and multiplicative interaction model (AMMI) analysis of variance (additive main effects) showed significant effects for genotypes, environment and the genotype by environment interaction. The total proportion contributed by environment and G x E interaction accounted for 78% and 10% of the total variation. The results also showed that 64.5% of the total variation was contributed by the environment while the genotype and interaction was associated with 20.7% and 10.3% of the total variation, respectively. The most stable genotype in the high yielding group in this study was CML312/TZMI 711 (X20), followed by genotypes TZMI 102/CML384 (designated as X33), and CML312/TZMI 712 (X21). The genotype CML312/TZMI 711 (designated as X20) could be used for broad selection since it was found to be the most ideal genotypes with both high mean yield and high stability. In the biplot analysis, X20 was also close to the origin, had the shortest vector from the ATC and with large PC1 scores (high mean yield) and small (absolute) PC2 scores (high stability) implying it had the least contribution to genotype by environment interaction (GEI). Through the stability analysis, the superior genotypes identified could also be used as references for genotype evaluation and also included in further testing in both early and later stages of selection.

The genetics of resistance to grey leaf spot (GLS) disease, grain yield and selected agronomic traits was studied in 42 F 1 progenies from a full diallel cross among seven maize inbred lines. These 42 F 1 progenies and seven parents were evaluated at three locations; Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), Kiboko, KARI Kakamega and University of Nairobi (Field station) during the period June 2006 to April 2008. The experiments were laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replicates. Combining ability analyses were conducted on the across site data of grey leaf spot disease, grain yield and selected agronomic traits using Griffing's method one, model one in the SAS program. Additive gene action played a greater role than non-additive gene action in the inheritance of resistance to grey leaf spot disease whereas the non additive effects were more important in the inheritance of grain yield. Reciprocal effects were not significant for GLS disease resistance and grain yield indicating absence of maternal effects for these traits. The inbred lines, CML 384 and CML 373 were the best combiners for grain yield with general combining ability (GCA) effects of 0.79 and 0.56 respectively while TZMI 711 and CML 373 were the best combiners for GLS resistance with highest negative values for GCA of -0.51 and -0.398, respectively. The local maize breeders could now incorporate the genes for GLS resistance in CML 373 and TZMI 711 and the grain yield genes in CML 384 into elite lines using recurrent and backcross methods, respectively in order to increase maize production and productivity in Kenya.

Knowledge on phenotypic diversity among existing spider plant accessions is a milestone in the improvement of spider plant, which is a highly nutritious indigenous vegetable in Kenya. A study involving agronomic and morphological characterization of 49 spider plant accessions assembled from East and South Africa was carried out at the University of Nairobi Field Station for two seasons in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Phenotypic data was collected on growth habit, flower, petiole, leaf and stem colour, petiole, leaf and stem hairiness, number of leaves per plant, plant height, number of primary branches, leaf length and width, single leaf area, and chlorophyll content according to FAO descriptors with modifications. Data was analyzed using both DARwin software V6 and Genstat Version 14. We observed significant differences among the traits implying great genetic variability among the evaluated spider plant accessions. The high genetic variation was further validated using the Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic mean (UPGMA) clustering method with stem and flower colour as key traits. The 49-spider plant accessions were clustered into 2 major groups, each consisting of Kenyan and South African accessions. Stepwise regression revealed that plant height had the most influence on yield in terms of number of leaves per plant. We also observed high heritability for several traits including days to flowering (91%), number of leaves per plant (99%), plant height (99%), number of primary branches (94%), chlorophyll content (94%), and single leaf area (87%). Our results reveal the high genetic variation between different spider plant accessions, especially from different regions of Africa that could be further exploited to improve productivity in the plant. The high heritability of most of the yield related traits is promising for improving yield in the crop through direct selection.

Sweet potato is one of the most important staple crops in Sub-Sahara Africa because of its supply of carbohydrates, vitamin A and C, fiber, iron, potassium and protein.The objective of this study was to determine phenotypic variation in diverse sweetpotato varieties for marketable roots, fresh root yield, fresh biomass weight, harvest index, beta carotene content and root dry matter content. Twenty five sweet potato genotypes were evaluated at two sites in two seasons in Kenya using a randomized complete block design of three replications. The results indicated that there were highly significantly variations for genotypes and sites for all the traits studied. There were no significant differences for genotype x site x season effects for the traits except for the number of marketable roots and fresh root yield. The mean fresh root was 32.19 t/ha,with the genotype Ininda expressing the highest fresh root yield of 54.79 t/ha. Genotypes, Naspot 13, Ejumula, Kabode, Vitaa and Tio-Joe gave the highest beta carotene content ranging between 11.830 and 10.040 mg/100g; with a mean of 5.384 mg/100g. The mean root dry matter content was 24.84 % with clones Amelia and Melinda showing the highest and lowest root dry matter content of 30.62 and 16.52 % respectively. Ten genotypes including Ininda, Erica, Jane, Naspot 13, Ejumula, Kabode, Vitaa, Tio-Joe, Amelia and Mayai were recommended as potential parents for sweet potato breeding program in Kenya.