Abstract
Groundnut rust caused by Puccinia arachidis Speg. is a major cause of yield and quality losses in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) in the warm-humid tropics including Tanzania. Breeding and deployment of rust resistant cultivars with farmer-preferred attributes will bolster groundnut production and productivity. The objective of this study was to determine the combining ability effects and gene action controlling rust resistance in groundnut genotypes for breeding. Twelve selected and complementary parental lines were crossed in a diallel design, to develop F(1) progenies, which were advanced to the F(2) for individual plant selection. Thirty-three successful partial crosses and the 12 parents were field evaluated using a 5 × 9 alpha lattice designs with two replications over two seasons in Tanzania. The tested genotypes exhibited significant (P < 0.05) variation for rust resistance, yield and yield-related traits. There existed significant (P < 0.05) difference on the general combining ability (GCA) effect of parents and the specific combining ability (SCA) effect of progeny for the assessed traits indicating that both additive and non-additive gene effects conditioned trait inheritance. The Bakers' ratios indicated that the non-additive gene effects predominantly controlling rust resistance and yield components. This suggested that transgressive segregants could be selected for improved rust resistance and yield gains in the advanced pure line generations. Genotypes ICGV-SM 05570 and ICGV-SM 15567 were the best general combiners for rust resistance and grain yield. The crosses ICGV-SM 16589 × Narinut and ICGV-SM 15557 × ICGV-SM 15559 were identified as the best specific combiners for rust resistance with moderate yield levels and medium maturity. Genotypes with desirable GCA or SCA effects were selected for further breeding.