Root-shoot Growth and Water Status of Garden Egg in Moisture Stressed Conditions in Ghana

Garden egg (Solanum spp) growth and development is affected in varying drought and poor soil conditions in Ghana. A study was conducted to identify the response patterns of garden egg genotypes root growth and plants water status under varying moisture stressed conditions of the Coastal and Sudan Savannahs of Ghana. A two year experiment was conducted on sixteen genotypes of the crop in Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications at Manga Agricultural Research Station in the Upper East Region, and University of Ghana, Legon experimental farm in the Greater Accra Region. At the first fruit maturity stages of around 80-90 days after transplanting, genotypes roots and shoots dry matter and leaf relative water contents (LRWC) data were collected and analyzed using GenStat Statistical Software. The genotype x location interaction significantly affected the genotypes LRWC and root growth in the dry season and moisture-stressed conditions. The moisture stressed tolerant genotypes maintained relatively high LRWC and root-shoot dry matter across locations of Manga and Legon. There were varied and location specific genotypes in root growth and LRWC, with the conditions of Manga favouring higher root growth than Legon; and that of Legon favouring higher retention of LRWC than Manga. The genotypes under the moisture stressed conditions had their LRWC varying from 50.6% to 65% at Legon and from 47.4% to 56% at Manga. Their root-shoot ratios varying from 0.24-0.35 at Legon and from 0.39-0.52 at Manga. The contributions of roots to total plant dry matter also varied from 15.6% to 20.5% at Legon and 22.5% to 30.1% at Manga. The genotypes that sustained higher root growth and retained LRWC of 57% and above under the moisture stressed conditions across locations were A3, A6B, A7, A8, A9A, and A11. These are attractive genotypes for garden egg improvement under moisture stressed conditions of the Coastal and Sudan Savannah agro-ecologies of Ghana.