EVALUATION OF TALL COCONUT (COCOS-NUCIFERA L) GENOTYPES WITHIN THE NIGERIAN COCONUT GERMPLASM BANK

Assessment of Tall coconut genotypes within the Nigerian coconut germplasm bank was undertaken. All the materials were derived from indigenous population. They are NIFOR Tall (NFT), Okunuvbe Tall (OkT), Ugbogiobo Tall (UgT), Uwan Tall (UwT), Utekon Tall (UtT), Iguedaiken Tall (IgT), Aihuobabekun Tall (AiT), Obazuwa Tall (ObT), Koko Tall (KoT), Opobo Tall (OpT), Moor Plantation Tall (MpT) and Badagry Tall (BaT). Vegetative characteristics, floral biology, yield and fruit composition were examined. BaT exhibited more vigorous vegetative growth than others in terms of seedling height and girth but not in leaf production. The more vigorous vegetative growth in BaT also resulted in the earlier inflorescence initiation. From the floral biology studies, it was observed that the palms are, generally, but not obligately, cross-pollinated as a few female flowers were receptive on the last day of the male phase suggesting the possibility of a limited level of self pollination. Yields were generally low and these were altributable to adverse environmental conditions. Nut components were within the range earlier described for the West African Tall (WAT) in Ivory Coast. Copra content was quite good, giving a range of 3.7 - 5.9 nuts to a kg. of copra. There was more variability among the genotypes of BaT in most of the characteristics considered and this was probably due to the fact that the highest concentration of Tall palms is within this area. Broadly, the indigenous Tall coconut palms can best be described with reference to the WAT, and would probably have had the same origin. The variability observed in some of the sub-populations is important to the breeder in the process of selection and breeding for improved varieties.