Effect of Gamma Irradiation on Morpho-Agronomic Characteristics of Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) 2191
ment. In the present study, the agronomic and morpho-
logical characteristics were improved by gamma ray
treatments. Among the various dose treatments, 100 Gy
of gamma rays treatment resulted in higher genetic vari-
ability and grain yield increase. This genetic gain can be
stabilized over few generations through selfing. Overall,
the results of the present study indicate that groundnut
mutant lines will increase the variability of the current
groundnut genepool in the DR-Congo. Additional agro-
nomic, nutritional, and organoleptic analyses of the se-
lected groundnut mutants are underway before multi-
location evaluation.
6. Acknowledgements
This research was conducted through a partnership be-
tween Laurentian University (Ontario, Canada) and Uni-
versity of Kinshasa (DR-Congo). The authors are grate-
ful to the Canadian International Development agency
(CIDA) for financial support and the Regional Nuclear
Energy Center of Kinshasa (CRNK) for logistics support
for field trial and seed irradiation.
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