ABSTRACT

Twenty-four Mucuna sloanei accessions were evaluated at Umudike in 2013, while fifteen accessions were evaluated at Amakama and Ishiagu in 2015 with a view to identifying genotypes that are adapted to the environments. The accessions were laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications and gross plot size of 16m². Six selected accessions were used to make crosses which proved unsuccessful because of high rate of flower abortions. Analysis of variance showed that location and accessions effects were significant (P<0.05) for most of the traits. The accessions exhibited significant variability (P<0.01) for most traits evaluated at the localities. There were also non-significant accession x location (GxE) interactions for most traits, depicting stabilities and low environmental effects on the accessions across the locations. Seed yield performances across the two localities revealed highly significant differences (P<0.01), with yield at Amakama (226.3kg/ha) being higher than that of Ishiagu (173.1kg/ha) based on two locations combined data. Heritability and variability studies revealed that the environmental factors exerted greater influence on most of the characters studied in different locations. Those attributes under high genotypic influence had high heritability estimates while those under high environmental influences had lower hertabilities and low genetic advance (GA). Correlation and path-analysis revealed that number of seeds/plant (P<0.001), number of pods/plant at harvest (P<0.001) leaf area/plant (P<0.001) and number of leaves/plant (P<0.001) associated significantly with seed yield and were also the most important direct and indirect contributors to seed yield across the locations, suggesting that these attributes were important indices for seed yield and should be considered in any selection process aimed at improving seed yield in M. sloanei. Analysis of the 21 accessions for nutritional and anti-nutritional compositions revealed that some of the accessions were rich in crude proteins, minerals (Fe and Zn) and vitamins C and other biochemical compounds that are useful to man and his animals if fully exploited. Some of the accessions include, “Obio-Akpor”, Ngwa-North”, “Essien Udim”, Umuahia-South” and “Mbano”. These six selected accessions based on their yield performances and rich nutritional compositions across the two agro-ecological zones are recommended for further evaluations with respect to their stability and adaptation to the zones.