Diversity among Morphological Traits of Segregating Sweetpotato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam] Genotypes in Umudike, Nigeria

Genotypes of the sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam) normally exhibit high variability in their morphological characters. A field experiment was carried out in 2017 at the National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike, Abia State, Nigeria to assess the morphological diversity among the population of 68 first filial generation (F1) sweet potato genotypes (Ligri PC) derived from seeds produced through poly cross systems from the International Potato Center, Kumasi, Ghana, including two local check varieties (UMUSPO3 and TIS87/0087). A randomized complete block design with three replicates was used to set up this experiment. The morphology descriptor was used to evaluate the genotypes of sweet potatoes on sixteen characters that covered both folial and fresh storage root morphology. The data were then subjected to an analysis of variance to identify any differences between the measured morphological parameters and agronomic variables. Using cluster analysis, it was established that all of the genotypes could be categorized into four distinct groups based on their physical characteristics. Consequent, a vast gene pool would provide for effective recombination to create a viable sweetpotato variety with high agricultural value.