Diversity Study Of Drumstick (Moringa Oleifera Lam.) Using Morphological Characters And Molecular Markers

📄 Project Abstract

Germplasm diversity analysis and characterization provides the foundation for crop improvement programme. This work has used morphologicaland molecular tools to study diversityand characterizeMoringa oleifera. The study was undertaken at the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN), Jericho Ibadan arboretum from 2013 to 2016 with the aim of determining accessions for future genetic improvement program. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The morphological data were subjected to Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Rank Summation Index (RSI) to determinetheir pattern of variation, identify major traits responsible for the variation and suggest appropriate accessions for breeding.Significant (P < 0.05) variation were observed among the accessions for surviving ability, pod diameter and number of seed/pod and highly significant (P < 0.01) differences for days to flowering, days to fruiting, pod length, plant height and secondary b...