Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) is one of the worldâs most economically
important fibre crops. The traditional use of kenaf focuses on its fibre
production, for the making of products such as ropes, sacks, canvases,
and carpets. New applications of kenaf have been developed such as
pulping and papermaking, board making, filtration media, potting
media, animal feed, and oil absorption. The fibres are also processed
for use in the automotive industry. Kenaf was introduced to South
Africa during the last few years. The crop is being explored as a
potential commercial crop for fibre production in South Africa.
· The objectives of this study were to conduct glasshouse and field trials
on commercial kenaf cultivars to evaluate morphological and
agronomic differences between them; to compare the oil content and
fatty acid composition of the seed of eight cultivars; to determine
genetic relationships between commercial cultivars and nine wild type
varieties and to determine the genotype x environment (G x E)
interactions and stability of commercial cultivars.
· Seeds were obtained from several sources and sown directly into pots.
Seedlings were grown in a heat-controlled glasshouse. A field trial was
also planted in another location. These plants were used in various
investigations.
· Two field trials were planted in two different locations to determine the
G x E interactions. The experimental designs were complete
randomised blocks with four replications. Eight morphological and agronomic characters studied were subjected to an ANOVA and
significant differences were found for some traits between cultivars
tested in the glasshouse. Significant differences also occurred among
replications for some traits in both trials. There were not many
morphological differences between cultivars and therefore it is difficult
to identify individual cultivars merely by morphological characters.
· Seeds of eight cultivars were used to determine the oil content and
fatty acid composition of the seed oil. The percentage oil was relatively
high for all cultivars; however, there was not much difference between
cultivars for oil content. The percentages of each fatty acid varied
greatly among different cultivars and therefore there is a potential for
genetic improvement in oil quality.
· AFLP analysis was used fingerprint commercial cultivars and three wild
type varieties. Six primer combinations between EcoR I and Mse I were
used to determine genetic relationships. A total of 406 fragments were
generated, of which 229 (56.4%) were polymorphic. A low level of
genetic diversity was detected in kenaf genotypes.
· Separate and combined analyses of variance across locations, three
types of stability parameters and correlation analyses were performed.
· The separate trial analyses for two locations have shown significant
differences among cultivars for three yield traits. With the exception of
plant length, there were no significant differences between replications.
The combined analysis of variance across locations showed highly
significant differences among locations for three yield traits. There
were, however, no significant differences among genotypes and their
interactions with localities for three traits. All cultivars performed on
average better in location 1 (under irrigated conditions) for six
measured traits.
According to Wrickeâs (1962) ecovalence, El Salvador, Everglades 41,
and SF 459 were the most stable cultivars for the three yield traits
respectively. Lin and Binnsâ (1988) cultivar superiority measure
indicated that El Salvador and Tainung 2 were the most stable cultivars
for the three traits. Nassar and Huehnâs (1987) non-parametric
measure of stability revealed that El Salvador and SF 459 had the
smallest changes in ranks and thus were the most stable cultivars.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-09292005-152227 |
| Date | 29 September 2005 |
| Creators | Coetzee, Rouxlene |
| Contributors | Prof MT Labuschagne |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-09292005-152227/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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