Heritability of and relationship among selected seed traits of three provenances of Jatropha curcas L.

Due to its high oil yield per hectare and ability to grow in a wide range of environments, Jatropha curcas L. is on top of the promising potential crops as biofuel feedstock. However, its full potential is yet to be realized due to lack of systematic improvement/breeding programs aimed at increasing oil yield. Improvement programs require knowledge on variability and genetic parameters. Thus, this study determined the extent of variation and relationship between seed traits of the different provenances, namely, South Cotabato, Bacolod and Talisay. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed no considerable difference between provenances in seed length and breadth at P < 0.05. Seeds from South Cotabato were found to be significantly thicker than the other two provenances. Heritability estimates obtained for all the seed traits were high (480%). High genotypic coefficients of variation (GCV) indicate that traits are less amenable to changes due to environmental flux. Seed thickness had the highest heritability and GCV (721.3%). In general, variation among the provenances of the seed traits studied is low, which indicates narrow genetic resource of J. curcas in the country. Unproductive breeding is expected unless there is an introduction of material from other sources, especially from the center of origin of the plant.