GENETIC VARIABILITY AND INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GRAIN YIELD AND SOME MORPHOLOGICAL AND REPRODUCTIVE TRAITS OF ACHA (Digitaria spp.) ACCESSIONS

Abstract

Acha (Digitaria exillis Kippis. Stapf and D. iburua stapf L) belongs to the grass family, Poaceae and has been described as the oldest West African cereal and of great value to the natives. With its potentials, there has been a renewed interest in Acha cultivation and research. The present study focused on the evaluation of the genetic variability and interrelationship between grain yield and some morphological and reproductive traits of some Acha accessions collected from farmers in five villages (Mwel, Toff, Kuba, Mbar and Kulere Richa) Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State. The trial was conducted during the 2019 rainy season at
the Federal College of Forestry Jos. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replicates. Analysis of variance revealed variability among the different accessions. Grain yield was positively and significantly correlated with plant height.