Abstract

Yam improvement through hybridization has suffered a lot of challenges over the years. Poor or non flowering of candidate parents, lack of synchrony in flowering of male and female genotypes, flowering intensity that varies with season and location, pests and diseases and other factors have serious obstacles limiting progress in yam hybrid production. This paper discussed the origin, germination and seedling characteristics, flowering and tuber formation and yield of yam landraces collected for improvement. Morphological variations were noticed among the yam landraces collected. With exception of Obiaoturugo and Amula, others produced male flowers only. Obiaoturugogave highest leaf number, weight of tuber and vine length while Amula gave highest tuber shape index. Seeds obtained from these open pollinated fields have genetic variations from which desirable selections could be made. Also, the landrace ofDioscorea rotundata could be used as putative parent for genetic improvement.

Key words: Nigeria, hybrid, accession, flowering, diversity.