Variability and Correlations among Groundnut Populations for Early Leaf Spot, Pod Yield, and Agronomic Traits

Abstract

Abstract:The present experiment was conducted in Mali to study the genetic variability and correlation of early leaf spot (ELS) resistance parameters and agro-morphological traits in groundnut using two F3 populations from crosses QH243C X NAMA and TS32-1 X NAMA. Estimates of genotypic coefficient of variation and phenotypic coefficient of variation revealed high value for pod yield, kernel yield, and ELS score at 60 and 80 days after sowing for the cross QH243C X NAMA. Low-to-moderate GCV and PCV were obtained for the remaining traits for both crosses. High heritability values coupled with high genetic advance as percentage of mean recorded for ELS_II, defoliation percent, pod yield in cross QH243C X NAMA; shelling percent for the cross TS32-1 X NAMA and ELS_III; and plant height, kernel yield in both crosses, indicate the significant role of additive gene action for inheritance of these traits. Correlation analysis indicated that pod and kernel yield were significant and positively correlated with 100 kernel weight and shelling percent. For cross QH243C X NAMA, kernel yield showed significant positive correlation with all ELS resistance components but the correlation was not significant for the cross TS32-1 X NAMA. Positive and significant correlation was observed between ELS resistance components themselves, suggesting that these components could be controlled by a similar polygenic system. The findings suggest that early generation selection should be effective for days to first flowering, days to 50% flowering, plant height, pod yield, kernel yield, 100 kernel weight and early leaf spot resistance which recorded the highest value of heritability in the two crosses.

Groundnut (Arachis hypogaeaL.) improvement in sub-Saharan Africa: a review

“…Correlation studies provide an opportunity to study the magnitude and direction of association of yield with its components traits and also among various yield-related components (Faye et al 2015;Mhlaba et al 2018). Groundnut pod yield per plant exhibited significant positive correlation with grain yield per plant, number of kernel per plant, hundred kernel weight, number of pods per plant, harvest index and shelling percentage (Kushwah et al 2017;Zongo et al 2017a;Hampannavar et al 2018). This information could help in formulating effective selection criteria in groundnut improvement programme for genetic improvement for grain yield.…”

Past, Present and Future Perspectives on Groundnut Breeding in Burkina Faso

“…The difference between groundnut potential yield and actual yields in farmer fields, referred to as yield gap [74,75], reaches over 50% Burkina Faso [18,60], due to several biotic and abiotic constraints [9,13,25,38,56]. With rain-fed systems, up to 50% of the yield potential can be compromised by moisture stress due to inconsistent rainfall [75].…”

“…As in most tropical regions of the world, diseases are major constraints to groundnut production in Burkina Faso [22]. Problems with foliar diseases including rust have been longstanding [82] with persistent occurrence in Burkina Faso [25]. Rosette disease, which affects the leaves and stem, is common in Western Burkina Faso [56,83,84] and is transmitted by the vector Aphis craccivora Koch [85] in a persistent manner [86].…”

“…To sustain productivity, groundnut resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses must be improved. To this end, ICRISAT has identified and developed sources of key traits, including resistance to early leaf spot (caused by Cercospora arachidicola), late leaf spot (caused by Phaeoisariopsis personata), rust (caused by Puccinia arachidis), and aflatoxins [9,24,25,27,46,52]. Additionally, significant progress has been achieved at ICRISAT in developing drought tolerant [104,105] and early maturing cultivars [46].…”

“…Most research results are confined to annual reports of individual projects, with little published in international journals [22]. To our knowledge, publications in recent years have focused mainly on yield evaluation [23] and disease of local and exotic varieties for early leaf spot [24,25]. Earlier research activities involved evaluation of resistance to foliar diseases in lines introduced from ICRISAT (International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics) or the USA through the Peanut CRSP (Peanut Collaborative Research Support Program) [26][27][28] and similar development programmes.…”