Morpho-phenological characteristics of exotic pigeon pea genotypes in western Burkina Faso

Abstract

Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan L.) is an important legume and multi-use crop, which contributes to food and nutritional security in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This crop, however, remains less popular and is thus underutilised in west Africa. The objective of this study was to characterise the morphological and phenological features of exotic pigeon pea genotypes in western Burkina Faso in order to provide an entry point for the breeding programme. The study was conducted at two sites, namely Farakoba and Kouentou, located in western Burkina Faso, involved seven exotic genotypes, namely ICP-15029, ICP-14722, ICP-8863, ICPL-20338, ICPH-2740, ICPH-2438 and ICPL-20092, sourced from ICRISAT, India. Also, two local accessions (FKB Cc1 and FKB Cc2) were included as controls. Results showed that semi-spreading (80% of the genotypes) and indeterminate growth habit (80% of the genotypes) were dominant in the genetic materials, with regards to branching pattern and growth habit, respectively. The genotypes including the two checks, were distinguished by three seed colours, viz. brown (three genotypes), dark brown (four genotypes) and grey (two genotypes). There were highly significant differences among the genotypes for phenological (P<0.001) and morphological (P<0.001) traits. The earliest genotype to flower at both sites was ICPL-20338; while the latest was ICPL-20092. A principal component analysis based on the quantitative traits showed that the first two PCs explained 91.78% of the total variation among the genotypes. The most significant contributor traits were stem diameter, leaf size, 50% flowering and plant height. Cluster analysis grouped the genotypes into five clusters.