Moringa germplasm collection and screening

Abstract

Moringa stenopetala and Moringa oleifera germplasm collection & screening trial was conducted in three locations at Konso, Arbaminch and Awassa in SNNPR, Ethiopia. The study was carried out for three consecutive years during, with the following objectives: to assess natural variability of agronomic yield and to generate germplasm pool for subsequent genetic improvement. In the experiment 33 Moringa accessions were in comprised among which 28 accessions belong to indigenous specie of Moringa stenopetala and 5 accessions to exotic Moringa oleifera species also included and were compared by using Randomized Complete Block Design with four replications. The results three years after establishment revealed that there was a significant variation in accession Konso Nagayle with mean values of survival rate (98.88 %), height growth (4.53 m), collar diameter (28.56 cm), number of branches (96.99 branches per tree) and dry leaf biomass (47.62 kg per tree) at three tested sites. This could be due to the environmental factors and natural genetic variability of the Moringa accessions, which generally expressed in terms of tree growth and yield. Therefore, the native Moringa accession Konso Nagayle could be recommended for further genetic pool improvement and leaf production at Konso, Arbaminch, Awassa areas and places with similar agroecologies.

Keywords: Moringa stenopetala, Moringa oleifera, locations/sites, accession, natural variability, growth, yield