EVALUATION OF AGRONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS AND LEAVES SPOT DISEASES RESISTANCE OF NEW GROUNDNUT (ARACHIS HYPOGEA L.) VARIETIES IN BURKINA FASO

Groundnut is one of the most widely grown oilseeds in Burkina Faso. It plays an important role both in population feeding and in the rural economy. However, its production faces a number of constraints that impact on performance of varieties developed. Among these constraints, leaf spot diseases such as early and late leaves spot diseases and rosette disease are the main diseases affecting groundnut production.This study was undertaken with the aim of providing farmers with agronomically efficient groundnut varieties resistant to the main diseases through the evaluation of new groundnut varieties. The plant material consisted of 11 new groundnut varieties and 02 control varieties. The experiment was carried out using a Fisher block design with 03 replications. Data collected concerned the severity of early and late leaves spot and rosette diseases as well as agro-morphological parameters. Variety ICGV176351 and the resistant control NAMA were resistant to early leaf spot disease with scores of 2 and 3 respectively. The control TS32-1 was more susceptible to late leaf spot disease with a severity rating of 6.33, while the control variety NAMA and the new variety ICGV176351 were resistant with severity ratings of 3. Variety ICGV176358 performed better with a pod yield of 1542.77 kg/ha and a haulm yield of 1678.33 kg/ha. On the basis of the ascending hierarchical classification, varieties in group 1 composed of ICGV176350, ICGV176352, ICGV176353 and ICGV176358, were the best with good agronomic performance and good resistance to leaves spot diseases. The varieties tested in this study can be disseminated to increase groundnut production in Burkina Faso.