Genetic Diversity and Association of Yield-Related Traits in Taro (Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott) Sourced from Different Agroecological Origins of Nigeria

Taro’s production is characterized by low productivity due to a lack of sufficient improved cultivars suited to the different growing areas coupled with biotic and abiotic stresses. The first step in plant breeding program is to examine and quantify variations for traits of interest in a given set of genotypes so those variations can be exploited in breeding programmes. One hundred taro accessions were evaluated for 16 quantitative traits in a simple lattice design with the objective of estimating variability and determine and quantify association of characters with yield. Multienvironment trial analysis combined over seasons showed highly significant differences among taro accessions for several traits. Yield per plant showed a strong, positive, and highly significant genotypic correlation with plant height (0.99), leaf area (0.82), corm weight (0.99), and cormel weight (0.99). Genotypic path coefficient analysis showed plant height (1.49), leaf area (0.97), corm weight (0.76), and cormel weight (0.21) exerted a high positive direct effect on yield per plant indicating true relationship between the characters. Accessions EBNFC054, EBNFC045, EBNFC100, EBNFC046, EBNFC032, EBNFC075, EBNFC084, EBNFC057, and EBNFC037 were superior and could be promoted to field evaluation. This assessment of variability and associations can assist breeders to tap the potential of the genotypes for certain traits and identify major traits that could be used as a basis for the selection of superior taro genotypes.