Inheritance of fresh seed dormancy in groundnut

Abstract

Pre-harvest sprouting in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L) seeds belonging to sub species fastigiata is undesirable since it leads to substantial loss of seeds, both in quantity and quality. A short period of dormancy is therefore desirable in this sub-species to reduce such losses. This study was conducted to determine the heritability of fresh seed dormancy in groundnut and to transfer this trait from exotic lines (ICGV 86158 and ICGV 87378) known to posses dormancy, into the genetic background of two groundnut varieties (Shitaochi and Aprewa) widely grown in Ghana but lack dormancy. Freshly harvested seeds of mature pods from parents, F1, F2 and the backcross populations were assessed for their dormancy by incubating in petri dishes in the laboratory. The F1 progenies from crosses between dormant and non-dormant parents were dormant. The F2 progenies fitted the expected 3 dormant to 1 non-dormant ratio. The study showed that seed dormancy is controlled by monogenic inheritance with dormancy dominant over non-dormant.