VARIABILITY AND AGRONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF WEST AFRICAN OKRA (Abelmoschus caillei) (A. Chev) Stevels, IN A DERIVED SAVANNA ECOLOGY OF NIGERIA

West African okra (Abelmoschus caillei), an important vegetable crop in Nigeria and other African countries, has hitherto been ignored in genetic improvement. Data obtained from evaluating eleven diverse genotypes of West African okra for two years in the Teaching and Research Farm of University of Agriculture, Abeokuta in the Nigerian Derived Savanna Ecological zone were used to study variability and agronomic performance of pod yield and yield related characters. Significant variations observed in the phenotypic variances were higher than the corresponding genotypic variances for the characters. These differences were observed in height at flowering, number of leaves at flowering, final plant height, seeds per pod and yield per plant indicating greater influence of environment for expression of these characters. Ridge per pod, pod breadth, pod length and 250 seed weight showed least difference between phenotypic and genotypic variances. Genotypes and year of planting interacted significantly (p<0.05 and <0.01) for height at flowering, 250 seed weight and pod yield per plant. High genotypic coefficient of variation, high heritability and expected genetic advances were recorded for height at flowering, seed per pod, number of leaves at flowering and pod yield per plant. This indicates the prevalent role of additive genes involved in phenotypic expression of these characters. Â