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International Journal of Plant Breeding and Genetics

Year: 2013 | Volume: 7 | Issue: 1 | Page No.: 57-64
DOI: 10.3923/ijpbg.2013.57.64
Bunch and Nut Production of Surviving Coconut Palms in Lethal Yellowing Disease Endemic Area of Nigeria
J.O. Odewale, M.N. Okoye, G. Odiowaya, J.M. Ahanon and C.I. Agho

Abstract: Until recently, bunch and nut yield has dominated the previous coconut breeding programmes in Nigeria. With the outbreak of Awka wilt Lethal Yellowing Disease (LYD), research focus in coconut breeding has been drastically changed due to decline in yield and the high susceptibility of the local land race, the West African Tall (WAT). Hence, the evaluation of the comparative performance of different coconut varieties surviving under natural field conditions in an LYD endemic area of Nigeria. Five coconut varieties (Malayan Green Dwarf (MGD), Malayan Yellow Dwarf (MYD), Malayan Orange Dwarf (MOD), WAT and Hybrid (HY) varieties) derived from the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR) Tall and Exotic Malayan Dwarf parents were evaluated for bunch and nut production for a period of seven years. Data was subjected to simple measures of variability while the pattern of variation was deduced using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. The results indicate that the surviving palms in the respective varieties are vigorous with the dwarf varieties showing more resistance to LYD when compared with WAT. However, WAT recorded the highest yield (8.1 and 63.7) for bunch and nut production, respectively. Very high variation ranging from 13.5-16.8% was observed for nut yield. Evidence of biennial rhythm was revealed among the palms across the years. The number of nuts/palm/year and bunch production/palm/year was highest in year 2007 with a range of 42.2-83.8 and 7.2-8.6, respectively. The distribution of the measured traits was very discrete in the WAT variety when compared to the other dwarf varieties. The rank correlation coefficient revealed very high significant positive coefficients for bunch and nut yield. Despite the relatively poor performance of the varieties, the high yielding palms would be used in crossing programme for the production of Breeders’ Test Materials (BTM) for further testing whilst serving as a germplasm base for resistance breeding.

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How to cite this article
J.O. Odewale, M.N. Okoye, G. Odiowaya, J.M. Ahanon and C.I. Agho, 2013. Bunch and Nut Production of Surviving Coconut Palms in Lethal Yellowing Disease Endemic Area of Nigeria. International Journal of Plant Breeding and Genetics, 7: 57-64.

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