Genetic Diversity of Ghanaian Bambara Groundnut Landraces

Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranean (L.) Verdc.) is an important leguminous crop in African. It is cultivated mainly by subsistence families in the semi-arid tropics under low input agriculture. The crop is the third most important leguminous crop in sub Saharan Africa (SSA) ranked after cowpea and groundnut. Despite its huge potential, very little has been done to improve the crop. Landraces which have evolved from wild relatives remain the only source of planting materials. Most of these collections however, are either not characterized or characterization done at the morphological level. The efficient use of molecular marker technologies to assess variability and diversity is an important prerequisite for a successful crop improvement programme. This project reports on level of polymorphism within Ghanain bambara groudnut landraces using morphological and molecular approaches. The results is useful to breeding and germplasm conservation of the crop in Ghana.