Agro-Morphological Variability in Eight Bambara Groundnut (<i>Vigna subterranea</i> (L.) Verdc.) Morphotypes from Zinder (Niger)

Abstract

Bambara groundnut ( Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) has economic importance for the producers and the traders as cash crop since it generates substantial income for households in Niger. The objective of this study was to assess eight (8) Bambara groundnut morphotype from Université André Salifou de Zinder in Niger Republic by their morphological and agronomic characters. The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications during the rainy season of 2020-2021. Data were collected on the Number of leaves, Plant height (cm), Growth habit (cm), Terminal leaflet length, Terminal leaflet width, Number of nodes/stem, Number of stems/plant, Number of pods/plant, Weight of 100 pods (g), Weight of 100 seeds (g), Length of seeds (mm), Width of seeds (mm), Weight of seeds/Plot (kg). There were significant differences for all characters, except Number of leaves, Terminal leaflet length, Terminal leaflet width, Length of seeds (mm) Weight of 100 pods (g), Weight of 100 seeds (g). The morphotypes UZ-VZ-04, UZ-VZ-03, UZ-VZ-06, UZ-VZ-02 and UZ-VZ-05 have demonstrated good performance for grain weight per plot and can be useful for a breeding program.