Identification of photoperiod neutral lines of bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea) from Tanzania

Abstract

adaptation when a variety is moved to a new area or planting date is altered.Photoperiod neutral varieties, with a fixed, short juvenile phase before flower induction takes place, have been developed in important species.These types can find an important place in the tropical cropping system, but will rarely completely replace the photoperiod sensitive varieties, which have a more potential yield under ideal conditions.The possible occasional shifts in the onset of rainfall periods in Africa (horizontal climate change) and the continuous farming of photoperiod sensitive crops like bambara groundnut pose a potential problem.We report here the identification of 3 landraces that have some neutrality in their response to long photoperiod compared to already widespread landraces of bambara groundnut.It is interesting to find that the most promising material, TZA 1505, is collected from Tanzania that is located relatively closer to equator than other bambara growing regions.This indicates a low level of purification and selection by local farmers.The identified landraces can serve as promising material in further and more advanced DNA studies e.g. in the current EU funded project "BAMLINK" (UK, Germany, Denmark, Botswana, Tanzania, Ghana, Namibia and India) and can be used directly by subsistence farmers in Africa or in breeding programs with the aim of producing inbred daylength-neutral lines of bambara groundnut as in a upcoming Danida financed project "The potential of bambara groundnut genetic resources".