ASSESSMENT OF AGROMORPHOLOGICAL PERFORMANCES AND GENETIC PARAMETERS OF OKRA VARIETIES RESULTING FROM PARTICIPATIVE SELECTION

In Burkina Faso, Abelmoschusesculentus is especially appreciated for its fruits, which are requested throughout the year by consumers. However, its production is based on local varieties which are little productive. In order to identify the characters of interest, to increase production and enhance the value of local genetic resources of the okra, investigations and a participative selection on accessions collected in three (03) agricultural areas have been realized. Agro-morphological evaluation on 16 favorite accessions of producers has been conducted in rain season following the block design of Fisher with three replications. Investigations have revealed that the preferences of producers are based essentially on the fruit and the precocity of the cycle. Thus, the green fruit, elongated and rich in mucilages are the most appreciated. Although the heritability within the meaning of all the characters is high, the yield components such as the height of the plant and the number of ramifications are the most inheritable. The analysis of the performance of the varieties has shown that eight varieties (G298, O2, G175, G289, KKO5, L2, X59, G263) are close to the producers? ideotypes and only two varieties (UAE 22 and G264) bring together the maximum characters of the interests of the producers. The efficient varieties thus identified could be exploited in okra?s breeding programs in Burkina Faso.