Morphological diversity and the cultivation practice of Abelmoschus manihot in West Papua, Indonesia

Abstract

Papua is considered to be the second diversity centre of Aibika plant; however, its diversity is declining, due to habitat destruction for regional development or land fragmentation, and hence Aibika preservation is a priority. This study aimed to assess the status of Aibika (Abelmoschus manihot L. Medik) diversity by collecting, preserving, conducting Aibika morphological characterization and preliminary assessment of its cultivation technique. Diverse germplasm can then be used to improve Aibika. The study was conducted between April and June 2015 in Mandopi, Warmare, Prafi of Manokwari Regency and Minyambouw of Arfak Mountain Regency. Descriptive method was used in this study, and the relationships among cultivars were analyzed according to Cluster Analysis using Excel Stat. Phenotypes, comprising 29 morphological characters, were recorded for cluster analysis. There were 39 Aibika cultivars collected from 4 locations of West Papua. Based on the UPGMA dendrogram, it was revealed that two primary clusters (A and B) separating separate the cultivars. Cluster A clearly separated from Cluster B at a dissimilarity value of about 0.57 (57%). Around 3.3 (33%) of variance separated the cultivars into four groups, consisting of cluster A, B1, B2, B3. Cluster A (MAD-01, Man-9, Man-11, Minyam-03, Imbenti-02, SP-02) is the most diverse area which consisted of cultivars of three different clusters. In Papua, Aibika is cultivated in a traditional mixed-cropping system, without appropriate planting distance, fertilizer, and pesticide application. This has resulted in suboptimal growth and high susceptibility to pests.