African Journal of Plant Breeding ISSN: 2375-074X Vol. 12 (1), pp. 001-008, January, 2025. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Evaluating the Combining Ability for Maize Yield in Striga-Prone and Non-Striga Regions of the Southern Guinea Savanna, Nigeria

G. Olaoye and O. B. Bello*

Department of Agronomy, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria.

Accepted 3 October, 2024

Abstract

Combining ability studies for maize grain yield and other agronomic characters were carried out using ten open-pollinated maize varieties and their 45 F1 hybrids in a Striga hermonthica (Del.) Benth endemic zone (Shonga) and non-endemic zone (Ilorin) in Kwara State, Nigeria, during the 2005 cropping season. Both general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) effects for Striga related characters such as Striga shoot counts, syndrome ratings, flowering Striga shoots and barren maize plants were generally low, suggesting the role of additive and dominant gene action in tolerance to S. hermonthica (Del.) Benth. Parents Acr 94 Tze Comp5 and Tze Comp3 C2 had significant (p < 0.05) positive GCA effects for grain yield and other agronomic characters in both Striga endemic and non-endemic environments respectively. Crosses Tze Comp3 C2 x Hei 97 Tze Comp3 C4, Tze Comp3 C2 x Acr 94 Tze Comp5 and Ak 95 Dmr - Esrw x Acr 94 Tze Comp5 had significant (p < 0.05) positive SCA effects for grain yield only in Striga endemic environment. These parents and hybrids appeared to have gene pools for S. hermonthica tolerance that can be manipulated and used to develop promising hybrids for early maturity and high grain yield across the Southern Guinea Savanna ecology.

Key words: Striga hermonthica, tolerance, combining ability, grain yield, Nigeria.

African Journal of Plant Breeding ISSN: 2375-074X Vol. 11 (3), pp. 001-012, March, 2024. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Assessment of livestock feed resources and nutritional value in Gasera And Ginnir Districts, Bale Zone, Ethiopia: Implications for animal productivity in mixed farming systems

Mekuanint Gashaw*¹ and Girma Defar²

¹Department of Animal Sciences, Debre Tabor University, School of Agriculture and Environmental Science, Debre Tabor P. O. Box. 272, Ethiopia.

²Department of Animal and Range Science, Maddawalabu University, School of Agriculture, Bale Robe, P. O. Box 247 Ethiopia. Corresponding Author E-mail: [email protected].

Received 9 March, 2023; Accepted 7 December, 2023

Abstract

The study was conducted in Gasera and Ginnir districts of Bale mid to highland areas, Oromia regional state, southeast Ethiopia; to assess livestock feed resources, to determine major feed nutritional value and their implication on animal productivity. Stratified random sampling (poor, medium and wealth) was applied to identify the sampled unit of 156 households in the selected districts. The chemical compositions of sampled feeds were determined using wet chemistry at Holeta Agricultural nutrition laboratory. Livestock production systems in the districts were extensive type. The metabolizable energy (ME) of the major available roughage feeds was 956,094.71 and 980,392.51 MJ per annum in the Gasera and Ginnir districts, respectively. Crop residues (aftermath and barley straw, wheat straw and teff straw) contributed about 80.4 and 81.73% in Gasera and Ginnir, respectively of the total annual ME supply of roughage feeds where the remaining is from natural grasses. The DCP (digestible crude protein) amount estimated in sampled feed was not statistically different in the study districts (P>0.05). Crude protein (CP) and in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) were significantly higher (P < 0.05) for feed from natural grasses than crop residues and aftermath. To the contrary, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and acid detergent lignin (ADL) contents were significantly higher (P < 0.05) for crop residues and aftermath. Mean crude protien content of crop residues and aftermath was less than the critical level of CP (7% DM) required for optimum function of rumen microbes, implying the need for supplementation. On the other hand, the amount of dry matter available from major sampled feed sources indicated that, it satisfied the maintenance requirement of cattle; however, the bulkiness of the feed cannot indicate the quality of the utilizable nutrients. This implies supplementation with concentrates and improved forage feeds are compulsory to overcome energy and protein deficiency in both study districts, especially during dry periods for reasonable livestock production.

Key words: Livestock, feed resources, chemical composition.

African Journal of Plant Breeding ISSN: 2375-074X Vol. 11 (2), pp. 001-009, February, 2024. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Combining ability for resistance to Turcicum leaf Blight in maize under highlands of Uganda

Kutuka John cc¹, Dr. Geoffrey Tusiime², Dr. Frank Kagoda³, Prof. Paul Gibson⁴ and Dr. Richard Edema⁵

¹Makerere UniversityCollege of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Department of agricultural production P.O. Box 7062 Kampala Uganda, Kampala.

²Makerere UniversityCollege of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Department of Agricultural Production P.O. Box 7062 Kampala Uganda, Kampala

³NARO- Buginyanya ZARDI, P.O. Box 1356 Mbale Uganda.

⁴Deputy Director, MaRCCI-Kampala.

⁵DirectorMaRCCI-Kampala.

Received 21 August, 2023 ; Accepted 4 September, 2023 and Published 13 March, 2024

Abstract

Maize (Zea mays L.) production in the highland areas of Uganda is constrained by high prevalence of Turcicum leaf blight (caused by Exserohilum turcicum) hence the need to breed for resistance to this disease. Gene actions governing TLB has been studied in lowland and mid-altitude maize but no study has been done for the highland agro-ecologies of Uganda. This study was conducted to determine the general (GCA) and specific (SCA) combining ability of selected maize inbred lines and F1 hybrids with resistance to TLB. Eighteen single-cross hybrids and three checks were evaluated following an Alpha Lattice design with two replications in three highland agro-ecologies of Uganda namely: Bulegeni, Rwebitaba and Kalengyere. Results indicated high significant (P≤0.001) differences among test environments for grain yield, plant height, ear height, 50% days to anthesis and 50% days to silking, an indication that environments were distinct. The GCA and SCA effects were significant (P ≤ 0.001) for most traits, indicating the importance of both additive and non-additive gene effects. Genotypes CKMARS10022, CKL14546, AMH704-43, AMH703-35, AMH704-51, AMH10142-29, AMH10142-10, CKMARS10022 x CKDHL120671, CKLTI0028 x AMH704-43, CKLTI0028 x AMH703-35, CKLT10028 x AMH10142-29, CKLTI0028 x AMH10142-10 and CKL14546 x CKDHL120671 showed negative SCA effects for TLB indicating their resistance for TLB. Genotypes which possessed negative combining ability are recommended for TLB breeding.

Keyword: Maize production, turcicum leaf blight, exserohilum turcicum, highland agro-ecologies, combining ability, resistance breeding.

African Journal of Plant Breeding ISSN: 2375-074X Vol. 11 (1), pp. 001-009, January, 2024. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Resistance to Phytophthora Pod Rot in Cameroonian Cacao Varieties: A Breeding Perspective

M. I. B. Efombagn¹, S. Nyassé¹*, D. Bieysse² and O. Sounigo^1,2

¹Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD), P. O. Box 2067 or 2123, Yaoundé, Cameroon.

²CIRAD-CP, TA 80/02, 34398 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.

Accepted 15 November, 2023

Abstract

The level of resistance against Phytophthora pod rot (PPR) was assessed among locally-selected accessions of cacao, the so-called selection of Nkoemvone (SNK), in Cameroon. The evaluation approaches have included four tests: Leaf disc inoculation (LDT); detached pod inoculation (DPT); artificial inoculation of pods and counting of successful infections (%SI); and field observations of the disease incidence (FI). The studied accessions were classified into four groups according to their genetic origin: SNK; SNK600-Tr (SNK*ICS); SNK600-Tr*UA (UPA*ICS); SNK600-Tr*UA (UPA*SNK). In all four testing methods, the groups UPA*ICS and SNK appeared respectively as the least and the most susceptible accession groups. Four resistance classes were defined for each testing method. A great part of the accessions were found in the intermediary resistance classes, based on DPT, LDT and %SI. Few accessions have displayed a significant level of PPR resistance in all testing methods. Rank correlation of the different accessions groups based on their performance in the four tests have shown that all correlation coefficients were positive (r = 0.37 – 0.87) and significant (p ≤ 0.06). The best correlation was registered between %SI and FI with r = 0.87 (p = 0.01). Subsequently, a unique classification of all accessions was done according to the scores recorded in all the testing methods. The use of locally-selected accessions (SNK) in the varietal development as well as in the cacao seed production is discussed.

Key words: Cacao plant pathology, oomycetes, screening methods, resistant cultivars, selection.

African Journal of Plant Breeding ISSN: 2375-074X Vol. 11 (1), pp. 001-008, January, 2024. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Genetic Analysis and Screening of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Germplasm for Ascochyta Blight [Ascochyta rabiei (Pass.) Lab.] Resistance and Combining Ability for Quantitative Traits

Qurban Ali¹*, Muhammad Iqbal², Arbab Ahmad², Muhammad Hammad Nadeem Tahir¹, Muhammad Ahsan¹, Nazir Javed² and Jehanzeb Farooq¹

¹Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan.

²Department of Plant Pathology, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan.

Accepted 15 October, 2023

Abstract

The present study was conducted to estimate correlation and combining ability analysis among quantitative traits in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) during 2008 to 2010. Ten chickpea varieties/lines (08-AG-004, CH-70/02, CH-76/02,. Nine lines viz. AUG-27, M-98, 114, 115, 117, 781, 1049, 4025, and 5006 exhibited moderately NOOR-91, K-70005, K-70008, K-70022, CM-2008, YN-08004 and K-70009) were evaluated for the source of resistance against Ascochyta rabiei but none was found highly resistant. However, four lines (08-AG-004, CH-70/02, CH-76/02 and NOOR-91) were moderately resistant and five lines (K-70005, K-70008, K-70022, CM-2008 and YN-08004) exhibited moderately susceptible reaction. Among twenty varieties/lines were evaluated for the source of resistance but none was found highly resistant and two lines 101 and 620 were resistant. However, four lines viz. Paidar-91, Pb-2000, 818 and 870 were found to be moderately resistantsusceptible reaction and three lines 205, 1205, and 1288 exhibited susceptible reaction. The genotypes Paidar-91, 620, PB-2000, 101 and 870 were crossed in 5 × 5 diallel fashion. The general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) effects for various quantitative traits like days taken to flowering, days taken to maturity, plant height, primary branches per plant, secondary branches per plant, number of pods per plant, seeds per pod, plant biomass, 100-seed weight, number of grains per plant and seed yield per plant were ascertained.

Key words: Ascochyta rabiei, Cicer arietinum , blight, chickpea, germplasm,  diallel.

African Journal of Plant Breeding ISSN: 2375-074X Vol. 10 (3), pp. 001-010, March, 2023. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Resistance of pearl millet hybrids to four isolates of downy mildew (Sclerospora graminicola (Sacc.) Shroet.) collected in Niger

Issaka Ahmadou^1,2*, Ofori Kwadwo², Gracen Edward Vernon^2,3, Danquah Yirenkyi Eric²

¹West African Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana Legon, Accra, Ghana / Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique du Niger (INRAN), Niger.

²West African Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana Legon, Accra, Ghana [email protected] (O.K), [email protected] (D.Y.E).

³West African Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana Legon – Accra, Ghana / Cornell University Ithaca / USA [email protected]

Accepted 10 February, 2023 

Abstract

Pearl millet is the only reliable source of food for many of the people living in the arid zones of India and Africa. Downy mildew is the most calamitous disease of pearl millet. Resistance to the pathogen is required to guarantee a stable harvest. Eight OPVs were used to generate 16 variety-cross hybrids during the 2012’s dry season in the INRAN station of Kollo. Pot-grown seedlings of parents, hybrids and checks were inoculated with 4 isolates of Sclerospora graminicola under glass house conditions at ICRISAT Centre in Sadoré. The isolates collected from different fields in Niger were not different from each other. The isolate from Maradi showed the highest level of pathogenicity. Twelve hybrids and six parents were resistant over the 4 isolates with a mean disease incidence less than 10%. Souna-3 and HKB showed the lowest GCA for the disease incidence. The hybrids Ankoutess x Souna-3 and Moro x HKP-GMS had the best SCA for disease resistance. There was a prevalence of additive gene action in terms of the inheritance of the resistance, also affected by epistatic effects. The resistant parents will be used for further pearl millet breeding activities.

Keywords: Pearl millet, hybrid, downy mildew, isolate, disease resistance, GCA, SCA.

Abbreviations: OPV: open-pollinated variety, GCA: general combining ability, SCA: specific combining ability, ANOVA: analysis of variance, ICRISAT: International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, NARS: National Agricultural Research System, BP: Before Present, DM: downy mildew.