Genetic characterization on quantitative traits of four Poaceae species seeds in the Sahel savanna ecology of Nigeria

Poaceae seeds are grains from grass species, essential for food and feed systems. Due to limited data on quantitative traits in Nigeria’s arid Sahel Savanna ecology, this study aims to characterize traits to support crop improvement. Seeds were collected from farmers at 21 locations in Kano and Katsina using a stratified random sampling technique. Data were obtained using seed descriptors, and the R statistical package was used for ANOVA, Duncan’s test, principal component analysis (PCA), variance components, broad-sense heritability, and genetic advance (GA). Twenty-one of four Poaceae species landraces were collected, comprising rice (7), maize (5), sorghum (5), and millet (4). All seed traits across the Poaceae landraces showed significant differences at P ≤ 0.001, except seed-width in maize (P > 0.05). Rice landrace-6 had the highest seed-length (11.20 ± 0.26 mm) and weight (29.07 ± 0.86 g), maize landrace-3 had the highest seed-length (10.97 ± 0.42 mm), width (8.33 ± 0.58 mm), and thickness (8.63 ± 1.33 mm); sorghum landrace-1 had the highest seed-length (4.73 ± 0.31 mm) and weight (36.87 ± 0.81 g); while millet landrace-3 had the highest seed-width (3.00 ± 0.00 mm) and thickness (2.30 ± 0.10 mm). Seed-width in PC1 of rice (0.50) and maize (0.60) contributed to variances of 66.61% and 4.65%, respectively. Seed thickness in PC1 of sorghum (− 0.48) and PC4 of millet (0.72) contributed most to variances of 8.03% and 9.20%. Seed-length (0.58) and seed-weight (102.69) had the highest genotypic and phenotypic variances in rice and maize. Seed-weight showed the highest heritability (79.00%) and GA (0.85) in sorghum and millet, respectively. Phenotypic traits and landraces with distinct characteristics are recommended for further breeding and genetic improvement.