Characterization and evaluation of accessions of Bambara groundnut ( Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdcourt) from Burkina Faso

Abstract

Three hundred and ten (310) Bambara groundnut accessions mainly from the Northern semi arid zone of Burkina Faso were assessed for phenotypic variability of agronomic and morphological traits. Mixture of seed types in a given accession is common in Northern area of Burkina Faso. Two to twelve types of seeds compose the majority of accessions collected (82%) and only 18% of accessions are homogeneous. Characters like canopy spread, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, seed length, seed width and weight of 100 seeds are positively correlated to yield per plant. A negative correlation was revealed between days to 50% flowering and yield per plant indicating that plants which take more time on vegetative stage have less yield in semi-arid conditions of production. Accessions from Burkina assessed for agronomic and morphological characteristics in this study are less variable than 1384 accessions assessed by IITA in 1985 and 1986. This result can be explained by the restricted origin of accessions from Burkina Faso.