Genetic diversity studies for morphological traits in pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) landraces of Northern Nigeria

Abstract

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.

Morpho-biochemical characterization and molecular marker based genetic diversity of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum(L.) R. Br.)

“…PL in the present study ranged from 15.55 cm (ICMR 11888) to 38.05 cm (IC-332716) with an average of 24.03 while the diameter ranged from 1.03 cm (ICMR 10999) to 2.15 cm (ICMR 09333) with an average of 1.53 cm. Abubakar et al (2019) observed a similar range and mean in pearl millet (2.26 cm) for panicle diameter. Similarly, results for PL are comparable with previous reports ( Sharma et al, 2018 ; Rani et al, 2019 ).…”

Phenotypic Characterization and Genetic Divergence of some Pearl Millet Genotypes Based on Cluster and Principal Component Analysis

“…The efficiency of any selection depends on the genetic variance of the traits with a rise coefficient of variance and rise heritability conjunction with rise genetic advance. Estimating of heritability and genetic advance for different targeted traits helps the breeder to apply appropriate breeding methodology in the crop improvement program, where heritability is affected by the environment (Abubakar et al 2019). In addition, Kumar et al (2020) displayed the values coefficients of phenotype and genotype of variation for plant height and green forage yield and recorded comparative variation between 48 diverse pearl millet genotypes which were less influenced by the environment.…”

Evaluation of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L. (R. Br.)) landraces for resistance to stem borer (Coniesta ignefusalis Hampson.) infestation

“…Br.] is an important global cereal crop mostly cultivated by the resource poor farmers in the semi-arid regions of sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian subcontinent for food and beverages (Haussmann et al, 2012;Abubakar et al, 2019). However, Gahukar and Reddy (2019) reported that the crop is infested by over 150 insect pests during its growth and development; with stem borer, shoot flies, leaf-sucking and panicle-attacking insects been considered economically important.…”

“…However, Angarawai et al (2016) reported that in Nigeria, exploitation of the local landraces which serves as greatest reservoir of useful traits for improvement in this crop was done only to a limited extent in a very unsystematic manner. Also, Abubakar et al (2019) reported that the global climate change ravaging most savanna region of Nigeria, has fast eroding effects on genetic variability of pearl millet as the natural habitats of wild cultivated species are being destroyed and modern cultivars is replacing the traditional cultivars. Therefore, research was carried out to source for stem borer resistant genotypes among the available landraces of pearl millets in the northern part of the country.…”