Agricultural and Biological Research

Agromorphological variability of Solenostemon rotundifolius [(Poir.) J. K. Morton] accessions from Burkina Faso and Ghana

Sawadogo Tegawende Alphonse*, Nanema Kiswendsida Romaric, Kusi Francis, Kiebre Mariam and Tonde Ignace

Solenostemon rotundifolius is an herbaceous plant from Labiatae family which produces edible tubers. It is one of the minor crops with high nutritional and socio-economic potential. Previous research works on its genetic resources made it possible to identify around sixty traits that can serve as descriptors for the plant. Agromorphological characterization of partial collections of S. rotundifolius revealed low variability for the main traits related to tuber size and yield. As a vegetatively propagated and minor crop, evaluation of the depth of the variability of S. rotundifolius requires larger collections from different agroecological conditions. A collection of 174 accessions of S. rotundifolius from nine (9) provinces of Burkina Faso and nine (9) districts of Ghana was characterized in a Randomized Complete Blocks Design with three replications. Twelve quantitative traits related to the cycle, the canopy, and leaf size and yield were measured. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) revealed significant differences within the collection (at level P=0.05 or 0.01) in all the traits. Based on hierarchical ascendant classification, six different agromorphological groups were identified. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences among the accessions based on the mean rainfall of their area of origin. This study provided useful data for a better understanding of the agromorphological variability of S. rotundifolius. Such variability could help build up a breeding program or for further research on the genetic diversity of S. rotundifolius.