Genetic Diversity of Korean Rice (Oryza Sativa L.) Germplasm for Yield and Yield Related Traits for Adoption in Rice Farming System in Nigeria

Background and objectives Assessment of genetic diversity is a prerequisite for any crop improvement program. It helps plant breeders in identifying promising lines for possible crosses. Materials and methods: This study was carried out at AfricaRice Center, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Ibadan, Nigeria, and evaluated 123 accessions from South Korea with 7 genotypes form Africa. The experiment was conducted in dry season using Alpha lattice design with 26 blocks each planted in five entries, replicated two times. Results: PCA showed that the first four components accounted for 73.59% of the total variation. Thus, suggest the presence of large genetic variability, which is of important, as it gives wide spectrum of selection to the breeders. Among all genotypes UPN296, UPN248 and UPN272 showed higher number of productive tillers, while UPN255, UPN332, and UPN 285 were superior for 1000-grain weight. The genotypes such as UPN277 and UPN261 proved to be better for number of spikelets, while UPN347, UPN266, and UPIA2 were better for grain yield. Cluster analysis grouped the 130 genotypes into 4 clusters. All the 17 SSRs markers used were polymorphic. A total of 70 alleles were obtained with an average of 4.12, and ranged from 2 to 6. PIC values ranged from 0.34 to 0.76 with an average of 0.53 with 17 SSR markers. UPGMA dendrogram based on similarity index of simple matching grouped 130 genotypes into three clusters. Conclusion. UPN347, UPN277, UPN296, UPN255 and UPIA2 shown to be the most promising genotypes that could be used for rice hybridization, genetic improvement and rice hybrid programme in Nigeria.