Assessing qualitative and phenotypic trait diversity in Ethiopian enset [Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman] landraces

Introduction - Enset [Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman] is one of the major indigenous crops in Ethiopia providing food for over 20% of the population. Materials and methods - A total of 286 enset landraces sourced from six different regions of Ethiopia were evaluated for seven qualitative and phenotypic traits (maturity time, colour of leaf lamina, upper- and under-side colour of the petiole and leaf midrib, and leaf tip edge colour) at the Areka Agricultural Research Centre in south-western Ethiopia, to determine the extent and pattern of morphological and phenotypic variations. Percentage frequency for the seven traits and classes of the qualitative and phenotypic traits were calculated. The Shannon-Weaver diversity index (H') was computed using the class frequencies to assess the diversity for each trait for all landraces. Results and discussion - All qualitative traits showed a wide range of variation across the assessed landraces. The Shannon-Weaver diversity index (H') for all sampled germplasm ranged from 0.50 to 0.89, with a mean of 0.73. Analysis of variance for the Shan-non-Weaver diversity index (H') revealed highly significant (P<0.01) differences between regions for all traits. Cluster analysis grouped the landraces into four clusters. Under-side (abaxial) and upper-side (adaxial) petiole colour and under-side midrib colour were the main traits for grouping the landraces into respective clusters. Conclusion - The present findings revealed that there is high genetic diversity in the Ethiopian enset landraces even though the extent of this diversity differed according to the region of collection. Generally, considerable variations important for enset improvement work have been observed, and regions with the highest diversity for some traits have been pinpointed for possible future in situ or ex situ germplasm conservation work.