The status of Cola germplasm and its conservation in Nigeria

摘要

At the Cocoa Reseaich Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), efforts have been ongoing since the 1960s to establish a wide genetic base for Cola nitida and Cola acu-minata as a first step towards improving their productivity through the use of an appropriate breeding programme. Consequently, exploration and a systematic selection exercise was carried out from the large number of kola populations in the country, based mainly on yield and various nut characteristics. The exercise has given rise to a total of 74C. nitida accessions currently being maintained in our various field genebanks. Other collections include five species of wild Cola materials and 710 accessions of C. acuminata. The problems facing the germplasm conserved in the various field genebanks are highlighted.