Unveiling Genetic Diversity, Characterization, and Selection of Bambara Groundnut (Vigna subterranea L. Verdc) Genotypes Reflecting Yield and Yield Components in Tropical Malaysia

Abstract

Addressing genetic diversity and application of appropriate breeding strategies are imperative for Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea L.) improvement as a newly introduced legume in Malaysia. It has become a “miracle lucrative” legume for Asia and Africa because of its drought resilience, excellent nutritional profiles, and versatile uses. This crop’s progress has been limited owing to a lack of extensive research, marginalization, inadequate knowledge, and a lack of accessible funds, among other concerns. The expansion of this crop is reliant on the assessment and selection of unique and reliable breeding lines in various circumstances. Consequently, the goal of this work is to determine genetic diversity and the relationship between yield-contributing components in 44 Bambara groundnut accessions sourced from the Genebank of Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Food Security (ITAFoS) at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). Three replications were used in the experiment, which was done using a randomized complete block design (RCBD). The data were subjected to ANOVA, PCA, correlation, and heat map cluster analysis; also, genetic parameters and broad-sense heritability estimation were carried out on recorded phenotypic descriptors. All of the investigated variables had a significant variance ( p ≤ 0.05 or 0.01) according to the ANOVA results. Yield per hectare showed a positively strong to perfect significant correlation ( 0.75 ≤ r ≤ 1.00 ; p ≤ 0.01 ) with the yield components viz. fresh pod weight, hundred seed weight, dry pod weight, and dry seed weight. Interestingly, these traits had heritability ≥ 60 % and genetic gain ≥ 20 % , which can be beneficial for direct selection to this crop improvement. The UPGMA clustering revealed five distinct clusters in which genotypes under cluster I, cluster II, and cluster IV produce a greater yield of 5.96%, 7.12%, and 15.05%, respectively, than the grand mean yield of 1927.01 kg/ha. The PCA biplot estimated that PC1 (32.9%) and PC2 (12.9%) would cover 45.8% of the total variance. We discovered 30 promising lines that provide yields per hectare more than 1.8 ton/ha and might be used as parental lines in future breeding operations aimed at improving the grain yield in tropical areas or comparable agroecological zones.

Genetic variation and characterization of Bambara groundnut [Vigna subterranea (L.) verdc.] accessions under multi-environments considering yield and yield components performance

“…With other required factors kept in place, the ability of a crop to compete with weeds, withstand drought and other harsh climatic and environmental conditions, yield improvement, and high nutrient uptake and utilization are some factors contributing to crop productivity 35 . This reports are similar to the findings of Khan et al 72 . The significant difference that was observed among the accessions indicates that there is a high level of variation in the selected accessions.…”

Hereditary analysis and genotype × environment interaction effects on growth and yield components of Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) over multi-environments

“…The values of phenotypic variance is greater than the other components studied namely, genotypic variance, genotype by environment variance etc. for all traits, similar to the findings of earlier reports by Khan et al 8 , 25 indicating that trait expression is governed by the environment. According to Sivasubramanian and Madhavamenon 22 , the proportion of GCV and PCV values is deemed low when the value ranges between 0 and 10%, moderate when the value ranges between 10–20%, and high when the value ranges over 20%.…”

“…According to Sivasubramanian and Madhavamenon 22 , the proportion of GCV and PCV values is deemed low when the value ranges between 0 and 10%, moderate when the value ranges between 10–20%, and high when the value ranges over 20%. However, because the coefficient of variation is independent of the measurement unit, it is more trustworthy when comparing trials 25 . The selection may be beneficial to the traits with lower PCV with higher GCV levels to isolate promising cultivars.…”

“… where: K for constant also indicates the intensity of selection. According to Khan et al 25 the rate is 2.06 at the point when the K is at 5%. = Standard deviation of phenotype; = Broad sense heritability and = Grand mean values of traits.…”

Heritability, genetic advance, and correlation studies of morpho-agronomic traits and brix in Burkina Faso sweet stalk sorghum genotypes

“…The joint estimation of genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) and heritability (H 2) provides the best information for selecting parents to cross for desired traits [38]. The genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variation (above 20% was high, 11-20% was medium, and below 11% was low) are low for Brix, leaf length, SDI, flowering date, main panicle weight, and high for tillering-related traits (NVT and NPT) and peduncle length [39,40]. The other six agro-physiological traits (LEW, NIN, INL, PHT, PAL and PAW) have moderate phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variation.…”