Cameroon
July 31, 2008

Source: Plant Breeding News, Edition 192
by Aboubakar Hamasselbe, Agricultural institute of Research for Development of Cameroon

In North Cameroon, groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is a staple food crop that ranks third only to cotton and cereals (sorghum, millet and maize) in terms of total land area cultivated.

In order to increase groundnut production in the region, the breeding programme based at Maroua Regional Centre of Agricultural Research has released more than ten improved varieties since 1982. Of these improved cultivars, only five varieties are maintained for breeder seed production using low income obtained from the sale of foundation seeds.

These varieties were evaluated in 2007 for varietal purity, shelling percentage and 100 seed weight at the Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD) farm, Maroua in North Cameroon.

Each variety was grown in a 10 m x 5 m plot size. At harvest, two samples of 1 kg of dried pods per variety were collected and analysed in the groundnut section laboratory.

- Varietal purity: this character varied from 52.4% for JL 24 to 97.3% for 28-206, indicating large range of variation in the varieties tested.

- Shelling percentage: the variety 28-206 showed the least shelling percentage (15.0%) while JL 24 had the highest (72.4%).

- 100 seed weight: this character ranged from 34.4 g for K3237-80 to 51.1 g for JL 24.

The results suggest that pedigree selection could be required to improve varietal purity of the breeder varieties tested for which the satisfactory limit of varietal purity is 100%. In addition, agronomic practices could be improved to increase shelling percentage and 100 seed weight of the varieties.

In short term, it is not possible to undertake these suggestions due to the lack of research funding since the end of the Groundnut Germplasm Project (GGP) in 2001.

Website: http://www.fao.org/ag/agp/agpc/doc/services/pbn.html

Published: July 31, 2008