ISSN 2756-3847
International Journal of Plant Breeding and Genetics ISSN 5756-2145 Vol. 1 (1) pp. 009-018, October, 2014. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Hereditary qualities of dry season resistance in like manner bean genotypes adjusted to Ugandan conditions
*Milton Charles, Sudhir Amin and Gordon Besigye Patrick
Department of Breeding, Genetics, and Plant Molecular biology, School of Biological Sciences, Kyambogo University, Kampala, Buganda.
E-mail: [email protected]
Accepted 22 September 2014
Abstract
Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is an important source of food and income for majority of households in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, bean production in Uganda is being affected by drought which has resulted from recent changes in climate. Developing high-yielding and drought-tolerant bean cultivars would significantly contribute to increased and stable yields in drought-prone environments. However, prior research was not focused on breeding for drought tolerance in bean in Uganda. Thus, this study sought to elucidate the genetics governing the inheritance of drought tolerance in Ugandan bean genotypes, through establishing the mechanism of inheritance of this trait in the genotypes relevant to Uganda. Five drought-tolerant and three drought-sensitive genotypes were hybridized using a NCII mating design. The findings of the study indicated that drought tolerance is controlled by both additive and non-additive gene action with more predominance of additive gene effects for seed yield, pod weight, seed and pod and number. Further findings also revealed that the genotypes SEN 99 and NABE 15 are good combiners for drought tolerance.
Key words: Phaseolus vulgaris, drought, screening, combining ability, inheritance