Agro-morphological diversity in yam genotypes from Recncavo of Bahia, Brazil

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the diversity of yam genotypes concerning their agromorphological traits based on the Ward-modified location model (Ward-MLM) procedure. 209 genotypes from the commercial production area of the Recôncavo region in the state of Bahia, Brazil were used. Three agronomic traits (length, width and weight of the rhizophore) and two morphological traits (rhizophore shape and skin color) were evaluated. A considerable agro-morphological diversity was detected in the data for the 209 yam genotypes. The Ward-MLM procedure showed that the optimal number of groups according to the criteria of pseudo F and pseudo t 2 is four. The separation by genotype groups was associated with their origin from two regions with different soil and climatic conditions. The Ward-MLM procedure has shown its usefulness to detect diversity and cluster genotypes by simultaneous use of morphological and agronomic traits.