EVALUATION OF GROUNDNUT (Arachis hypogaea L.) GERMPLASM IN NIGER STATE FOR AGRONOMIC TRAITS

ABSTRACT

Groundnut is an annual legume and one of the world’s most important oilseed crops. In order to access the genetic diversity of groundnut in Niger state, a germplasm collection mission was undertaken to three agricultural zones of the state. These zones represent the major groundnut  producing  areas  of Niger  state. Fourty-five farmers  were interviewed using a validated questionnaire. The germplasm collected were evaluated for agro morphological  parameters at  the experimental  garden  of Department of Plant  Biology, Federal  University  of  Technology  Minna,  Nigeria  using  Randomize  Complete  Block Design (RCBD) with three replicates. All the accessions were characterized into distinct genotypes base on agromorpholocal, fatty acid composition and pollen parameters. A total of thirty-seven (37) accessions of groundnut were collected from the farmers and six (6) improved varieties from Niger State Agricultural Development Project. The highest number (4) of groundnut accessions was collected from Lapai Local government while Gbako, Bida, Lavun, Paikoro, Agaie,Shiroro, Bosso, Kontagora and Katcha Local Government had 3 accessions each. Two accessions each were collected from Borgu, Rijau and Agwara Local Government.  There  were  significant  differences  (P<0.05)  for  most  of  the  parameters studied. Accession NG-SHI-036 had the highest plant height (35.33 cm). Accession NG- PAK-030 had the highest number of leaves (340.00) and accession NG-LAP-028 had the highest number of branches (16.00). Accession NG-AGW-009 had the least number of days to 50% flowering (27.33 days) and maturity (87.33 days). Accession NG-SHI-036 had the highest number of pod per plant (49.67); SAMNUT22 had the highest 100 seed weight (56.55g), 100 pod weight (132.70g) and shelling percentage (58.06 %). The result of pollen parameters revealed that SAMNUT26 had the highest pollen production (4803.33) and accession NG-SHI-036 had the highest percentage fertility (92.00%). The result of the pollen germinability revealed that in 10% and 20% sucrose concentration, NG-SHI-036 had the highest percentage germinability of 27.00% and 75.33% respectively. The dendrogram of  the  agro  morphological  parameters  cluster  the  accessions  into  four  major  groups. Genotype NG-SHI-036 had the highest oil percentage (53.17%). Accessions NG-SHI-036, NG-GBA-014 and NG-LAV-024 were the best in terms of fatty acid composition. This study has provided some useful baseline information about important traits in the various groundnut accessions in Niger State. Such traits should be exploited for the improvement of the crop in the future.

CHAPTER ONE

1.0  INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is well-known as peanut in North and South America (Gadhiya et al., 2014). It is an annual legume and one of the world’s most significant oilseed crops (Upadhyaya et al., 2006; Mukhtar et al., 2013). The genus Arachis comprises of 80 described species and is partitioned into nine taxonomic sections:Trierectoides, Erectoides, Procumbentes, Rhizomatosae, Heteranthae, Caulorrhizae, Extranervosae, Triseminatae and Arachis (Rami et al., 2013). Groundnut is thirteenth in the world food crops position; it positions fourth in oil generation or palatable oil after soybean, rapeseed, and cottonseed and third vegetable most important protein (Food and Agricultural Organisation, 2017a).

Groundnut has been affirmed to have originated from South America and later spread to Brazil (Zhao et al., 2012). It was acquainted by Portuguese from Brazil to West Africa and afterward  to  South  Western  India  in  the  sixteenth  Century,  in  the  present  day;  the groundnut is grown in practically every one of the nations of the world (Anjana et al., 2016). It is grown in all continents with a complete region of 24.6 million hectares, and a production of 41.3 million tons (FAO, 2013). In Africa, about 11.7 million hectares of land is utilized for groundnut production and 10.9 million tons of yearly generation (FAO, 2013). The importance of this crop cannot be overemphasised; it is utilized for diverse purposes; it is a good source of cooking oil, frying, salad, margarine and groundnut butter. It is a cash crop broadly developed in all the tropical and sub tropical locales of the world for direct use as nourishment, for oil, and for the high protein meal produced after oil extraction. The seeds have palmitic, oleic and linoleic acids representing about 90% of total fatty acids at seed maturity (Engin et al., 2018). Groundnut is significant sources of vitamins E, K, and B (the richest source of thiamine and niacin) and other basic minerals (Kassa et al., 2009). Groundnut cake after oil extraction is especially utilized for animal feeding with high protein content (Savage and Keenan 1994). It was reported that consuming groundnut at least four times a week demonstrated a 37% decreased danger of coronary heart disease (Suchoszek-Lukaniuk et al., 2011). Studies also indicated that groundnut contain anticancer activity with half hindrance of expansion of related leukemia cells (Hwang et al., 2008). Efforts have been made by several researchers to improve the quality and quantity of the available groundnut varieties. However, such efforts are yet to be well felt by the local farmers, especially in Niger state. There is therefore, a need to further broaden the genetic basis of the crop through the study of diversity of the crop in Niger state through collection and characterisation of the available germplasm.

1.2 Statement of the Research Problems

Under utilisation of vast potential of groundnut landraces has led to low genetic variability among varieties available to farmers. This low genetic variability remains one of the main challenges to groundnut improvement (Pasupuleti et al., 2013). According to Tulole et al. (2008), cultivation of low yielding varieties and poor seed supply are among the major constraints to increasing groundnut production.

In Niger state, attention has not been given to collection and evaluation of available groundnut landraces and information on the qualitative and quantitative properties of groundnut oils of cultivars grown in Niger state has   not been adequately evaluated. In addition, Hassan and Ahmed, (2012) also noticed that the major focus of the breeding program by the groundnut breeders has been on the improvement in yield and yield related traits. However, quantity and quality of oil in term of fatty acid has rarely been studied. Pollen production, viability and germinability test of the groundnut genotypes have not been used to determine genetic variability among the accessions of groundnut grown in Niger state. There is therefore a need to develop better genotype (s) of the crop in order to encourage  its  cultivation  for  increased  production  of  yield  as  well  as  enhancing  its improvement in the state.

1.3 Justification for the Study

In crop improvement program, estimation of genetic diversity is a fundamental aspect for breeding highly productive cultivar and the genetic diversity present in a crop plays important  role  in  improvement  of  crop  (Tulole  et  al.,  2008).Groundnut  landraces  are valuable as they possess huge treasures of genetic material which may prove valuable in the future crop development and improvement program (Ajeigbe et al., 2014).

Moreover, previous research on groundnut in Niger State has dealt with economics analysis of groundnut (Animasahun, 2008) and functional characterisation of groundnut (Mustapha et al., (2015). Collection and evaluation of germplasm have been found to be effective for selection of new varieties with desirable trait (Falusi, 2001; Assefa et al., 2005; Kaizzi et al., 2006; Adjei-Nsiah et al., 2007; Tulole et al., 2008;  Daudu et al., 2015; Gado, 2018; Abubakar  et  al.,  2018).  Knowledge  of  the  genetic  variability  in  a  population  and partitioning the variance into the components provides useful information for improvement of desirable traits (Zaman et al., 2011).

Due to rapid growth of population, groundnut yield is urgently required to increase, to meet food demand. In order to meet this demand, there is necessity for development of improved varieties (Engin et al., 2018).

The nutritional and storage qualities of groundnuts are determined by its fatty acids composition (Gulluoglu et al., 2016). Due to the high amount of oleic and linoleic acids in groundnut seed, quality of groundnut oil depend on their relative proportions (Hassan and Ahmed,  2012).  Hence,  fatty  acid  composition  of  groundnut  oil  determines  its  quality (Asibuo et al., 2008a; Hassan and Ahmed, 2012; Ganapati et al., 2014). Oils with high content of fatty acid (oleic acid) are less susceptible to oxidative changes during refining and storage (Win et al., 2011; Ganapati et al., 2014). Nutritionally, a high content of linoleic acid is preferable because it is an essential fatty acid and has been known to lower total blood cholesterol and low-density lipo-protein levels (Asibuo et al., 2008a).

The characterisation of germplasm is of immense significance for cultivar identification, description of accessions, establishment of diagnostic characteristics, identification of duplicates, development of interrelationship between, or among traits and between geographical  groups  of cultivars,  identification  of accessions  with  desirable  agronomic traits and selection of  entries for more precise evaluation; and also important in estimation of the extent of variation in the collection (Upadhyaya et al., 2008).

1.3.1 Aim and Objective of the Study

1.3.2 Aim of the study

The aim of this study is to evaluate groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) germplasm in Niger State.

1.3.3 Objectives of the study

The Objectives of the study were to:

i.   collect and characterize groundnut accessions using standard descriptor of groundnut.

ii.  determine agromophological parameters of the accessions.

iii. determine pollen parameters of the accessions.

iv. quantify the fatty acid composition of the accessions.

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