Genotype × Environment Interaction for Resistance to Early Leaf Spot of Groundnut Mini Core Collections in the Savannas of Nigeria

Background: The genetic yield potential of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) has been continuously challenged by several diseases including early leaf spot (ELS).Methods: In the current study, we evaluated groundnut mini core collections under artificial and natural disease epiphytotics in six environments to identify stable elite sources for ELS resistance and pod yield. Mixed model analysis was done to adequately capture the variance component as a result of genotype (G), environment (E) and G × E interaction (GEI).Result: Highly significant (p <0.001) effects for G and GEI on ELS and pod weight were observed. The parametric and non-parametric stability models ranked the genotype differently for their stability to ELS. The GGE biplot identified ICG 1519 as a stable genotype for the ELS resistance. For pod weight, ICG 8896 and ICG 7897 were consistently stable from all the stability models including the GGE biplot. ICG 9449 and ICG 4540 were identified as stable genotypes for both ELS and pod weight. These elite sources of ELS resistance identified in the current study will be useful in the development and deployment of groundnut varieties with resistance to ELS and high pod yielding potentials.