Morphological Characterization of Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) Accessions Collected in the Centre-west, South-west and West of Côte d'Ivoire

Cassava ( Manihot esculenta Crantz) is an important food crop in Cote d'Ivoire. Nonetheless, its production is facing many constraints including the abandonment of landraces, fires, pests and diseases. Such a pressure can cause an erosion of the genetic diversity of cassava and wild relatives. In order to overcome those constraints, collections of traditional varieties were carried out in the Centre-west, South-west and West of Cote d'Ivoire. A total of 159 accessions were used. These accessions were observed using morphological parameter. Morphological characterization was done through multivariate analyses on these 159 accessions to better manage germplasm. Accessions were clustered into three classes with 143 morphotypes and 16 duplicates. Class 1 or Type Sie, composed of 45 accessions, included the majority of accessions that had the least common modalities of collection (yellow flesh, white skin, yellowish phelloderm and orange stem). Analysis of similarity / dissimilarity showed that clusters known as Sie, Bassie djele4 and Djonan djonan of the current germplasm were close to different groups Cosca4, D14 and 256 of the existing collection.