Assessment of sixteen varieties of groundnut in two agro ecological zones in Burkina Faso for yield and tolerance to aflatoxin

In Burkina Faso, groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is produced in almost the entire country except the north. Its multiple uses make it a highly appreciated oil seeds and leguminous crop. However, the presence of aflatoxins in grains constitutes a public health risk and thus limits its marketing to international markets. The present study evaluated sixteen (16) short duration (90 days) groundnut varieties (15 varieties received from ICRISAT Mali and one variety from INERA). The main goal was to evaluate the agronomic performance and the level of resistance of each variety to total aflatoxins in two locations (Gampela and Tenkodogo). The design was Blocks of Fisher completely randomized with three (3) replications and two factors were studied: The variety at sixteen (16) levels and the location at two (2) levels. The average pods yields were above 1 ton in the 2 locations. The best yields were observed from ICGV-IS 13806 (2394.97 kg.ha-1) at Gampela and ICGV-IS 13912 (1804.78 kg.ha-1) at Tenkodogo. In both locations, Aspergillus flavus/parasiticus contamination rates and the aflatoxin contamination amounts of the varieties were low (0 - 3.9 ppb). Aflatoxin contents varied depending on the degree of maturity of the seeds: Thus immature seeds (M3) had higher aflatoxin contents than mature seeds (M2 and M1). These low levels are the result of strict application of good agronomic practices and sorting. The negative correlation between the percentage of maturity of grains and the aflatoxins contents and the positive correlation between the percentage of maturity of grains and the shelling ratio indicate that an early sowing allowed good filling of pods and then the very significant reduction of aflatoxins contamination. The positive correlation also between the shelling ratio and the pods yields shows that when the pods are full they weigh more and increase the yield. However, the varieties to be adopted by producers must have good technological characteristics such as good shelling ratio and good weights of 100 seeds and less pods and seeds damaged. Varieties that would meet these criteria would be ICGV-IS 13824, ICGV-IS 13834 and ICGV-IS 13912.