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African
Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. 2(4), pp. 182-186, April, 2007
ISSN 1991- 637X© 2007 Academic Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Levels of
variability in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) to cercospora leaf spot
disease – implication for selection
A. U. Izge1*, Z. H.
Mohammed2 and A. Goni2
1Department
of Crop Production, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Maiduguri,
P.M.B. 1069,
Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria.
2Department
of Crop Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Maiduguri,
P.M.B. 1069,
Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria.
*Corresponding author.
E-mail:
bamsyizge@yahoo.com. Tel:
+234 (0) 8030636782
Accepted
19 April, 2007
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Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is an
important crop both in subsistence and commercial agriculture in arid
and semi-arid regions of the world. Leaf spot diseases caused by fungus
have been a major destructive disease of groundnut and could cause a
yield loss of up to 50 % or more. A two-year experiment was conducted
during the cropping seasons of 2002 and 2003 at the Faculty of
Agriculture Research Farm, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria. The
objective of the study was to determine the reaction of different
groundnut varieties to cercospora leaf spot disease to create basis for
selection for cercospora leaf spot disease tolerance. The experiment
consisted of twenty-four groundnut varieties, laid out in a randomized
complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The analysis of
variance (ANOVA) indicated highly significant difference among the
groundnut varieties in all the characters studied. The results indicated
that ICGV-SM-93531, ICGV-IS-96802, ICGV-IS-96827 and ICGV-IS-96808 had
the lowest cercospora leaf spot incidence. The variety ICGV-IS-96808
that produced the highest kernel yield also had the lowest days to 50%
flowering and incidentally is among varieties that recorded the lowest
leaf spot incidence. The study found tremendous level of variability
existing among the groundnut varieties that is essential in crop
improvement. This study recommends that development or selection of
tolerant varieties to leaf spot should be based on their level of
incidence. This will be the only effective measure in decreasing
production costs and protect the environment from pollution. Potential
therefore exist for selection among the groundnut varieties evaluated
for cercospora leaf spot disease tolerance. There is however, a need to
undertake further studies in order to determine the type and the number
of genes controlling cercospora leaf spot disease tolerance in
groundnuts for enhanced breeding strategies.
Key
words: Groundnut, leaf spot, tolerance, incidence, selection,
breeding strategy.
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