Diversity in tanzanian pigeonpea [cajanus cajan (l.) Millsp.] Landraces

A total of 123 Pigeonpea landraces were collected from four major pigeonpea production areas in Tanzania. The accessions grown at Ilonga (Tanzania) and Kabete and Kampi ya Mawe (Kenya) were characterized for diversity using 16 qualitative and 14 quantitative traits. In the Northern Highlands, pigeonpea is grown mainly as a cash crop for export. Farmers mainly rely on self saved seed, but seed is also obtained from other sources. Significant polymorphism in qualitative traits was recorded in base flower colour, pod colour, flowering pattern, streak pattern, seed colour and seed shape. Northern Highlands collections exhibited lowest diversity in these traits, an indication of selection response to market preferences. Principal component and cluster analysis separated the variability in the germplasm based on days to flower, days to maturity, plant height, number of primary and secondary branches and number of racemes/ plant. Overall, two distinct diversity clusters were evident with Coastal, Eastern and Southern accessions in one cluster and Northern Highlands accessions in another cluster. Further studies, using molecular techniques is essential to confirm the diversity groups identified and also to identify genetic markers for insect pests and disease resistanc