DIVERSITY STUDIES ON MORPHOLOGICAL ATTRIBUTES OF SEGREGATING SWEETPOTATO [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam] GENOTYPES

Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas (L) Lam) is one of the most important root crops in the world, particularly in sub-Sahara Africa. Collecting and characterizing plant materials have been the basis for crop improvement. Diversity studies have long been seen as vital for rational management and use of crop germplasm. Thirty-two newly developed clones (progenies) and their parents (TIS 8164 (M1), Centennial (F2), UMUSPO/3 (Mother Delight) F1, UMUSPO/2 (M3) and Tio Joe (F5).The data generated were analyzed for morphological diversity using principal component analysis (PCA), which was used in identifying the few characters that significantly influenced the observed variation among the progenies. In summary, this study revealed that ground cover, vine internode length, predominant skin colour, secondary skin colour, flower colour, flower habit, mature leaf, leaf lobe type and leaf lobe number were important descriptor traits that characterize the observed variations in segregating sweetpotato. It also helped to identify progenies and parents that were less susceptible to the sweetpotato virus disease for breeding purposes, and to farmers for a good yield