Agro-Morphological Characterization of a Collection of Fonio [<i>Digitaria exilis</i> (Kippist.) Stapf.] Accessions from Burkina Faso

Abstract

Considered as the oldest cereal, fonio ( Digitaria exilis Stapf . ) is grown in West Africa for its therapeutic virtues, its nutritional and organoleptic quali ties. It plays an important socio-cultural and economic role for the populations of western Burkina Faso. However, very few studies on the genetic di ver sity of fonio have been carried out. This study aims to contribute to a better knowledge of the diversity of Digitaria exilis in Burkina Faso using agro - morphological descriptors. Thus, 60 accessions of fonio collected from western Burkina Faso were characterized using 21 agro-morphological characters according to an Alpha Latice design with three replications. The study showed morphological variability for most of the qualitative and quantitative characters studied. Principal component analysis (PCA) explained 56.07% of the variability. Hierarchical cluster analysis split s the accessions of the collection into four clusters using seven characters. These characters can constitute basic criteria for dif ferentiating fonio accessions in Burkina Faso. The accessions of Group II have a long cycle and high production of grain , while the accessions of Group IV have a short cycle and low production of grain. The groups identified can serve as a starting point for fonio breeding in Burkina Faso.