VARIATION AMONG PEANUT GENOTYPES IN TOLERANCE OF SOME ABIOTIC STRESSES

Abstract

Peanut is considering the most important legume crop in the world; it is cultivated in the arid and semi-arid area. In the developing countries peanut have been used traditionally since the origin of humanity because it is rich in oil, protein, vitamins and anti-oxidation. Developing countries account for nearly 95 percent of world production. Especially, Asia accounts for about 70 percent of this amount where the major producers, India and China together represent over two-thirds of global output. In Africa the important producers are Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan at the same time Egypt occupied the first positions in respect to the yield/ha (2.5 tons/ha). On the other hand, the United State of America occupied the first position over the world respect to the yield/ha (5 tons/ha). In most of the developing countries kernels are used for oil extraction, food and as an ingredient in confectionery products. Following extraction, the residual cake is processed largely for animal feed. The most world peanut production is grown mostly under rain-fed conditions, where unpredicted and insufficient rainfall or drought seriously affect peanut production. Drought not only affects the yield reduction, but also the main reason for reduction in the seed quality through increases in aflatoxin contaminations. Identification of genotypes that have a better ability to use limited available water is very important to enhance crop productivity in the all production area. Therefore, breeding for drought adaptation is an important strategy in alleviation drought effects on peanut productivity. This investigation opens a new way for breeding peanut for drought tolerant through some selected mutation lines and identification drought tolerant traits to better understand the genotype by environmental interaction. The overall objectives of the present investigation were to