Breeding of Elite Parent Trees of "Néré" or African Locust Bean (Parkia biglobosa (Jacq.) R.Br. ex G. Don) Based on the Agromorphological Characteristics of Mother Trees and Their Progeny in the Poro Region

This study aims at selecting néré trees based on their agromorphological characteristics. Data were collected from 90 mother trees distributed across four cities (Korhogo, M’Bengué, Dikodougou, and Sinématiali), as well as their progeny evaluated in a nursery. The data collection focused on 21 quantitative traits related to the trunk, fruits, and seeds for the characterization of the mother trees, and 9 quantitative traits for the characterization of the progeny in the nursery. The collected data were subjected to multivariate statistical analyses. The study revealed a high variability in traits such as trunk circumference, height, number of fruits per cluster, and seed weight. Hierarchical Ascending Classification (HAC) identified three distinct classes of trees and nursery plants. Trees in Class II, consisting of genotypes DN12, DN16, KN11, KN20, SN13, and SN24, along with their progeny, recorded the best performances. These trees stood out with higher values for the number of fruits per peduncle (7 to 8), seed weight per cluster (28.658 g), and number of seeds per cluster (117 to 118). In the nursery, their progeny exhibited the highest germination rates (89.95%), greater plant height (10.339 cm), a higher number of internodes (4 to 5), and a higher number of leaves (5 to 6). The parent trees from Class II should be selected for plant breeding or vegetative propagation. Keywords: Parkia biglobosa, Agromorphological-Characterization, Selection, Côte-d’Ivoire