EVALUATION OF THE PHENOTYPIC CHARACTERIZATION OF PHYSICS NUTS {Jatropha curcas L.) SEEDS MORPHOLOGY IN SOME SELECTED LOCATIONS OF KEFFI LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, NASARAWA STATE

Jatropha curcas L. is a multipurpose shrub that has acquired significant economic importance for its seed oil which can be converted to biodiesel, as an alternative to petrol-diesel. This study was carried out on the phenotypic characterization of the seed morphology of Jatropha curcas from eight locations of Keffi Local Government area for providing support for the breeding and allocation of seeds. Five morphological traits were investigated which include: seed weight, seed length, width lateral diameter and seed length and width ratio. The results revealed that the seed morphology had significant variation at 1% and 5% of levels of significance among the locations of the different populations of Jatropha curcas with high level of phenotypic diversity and therefore provenance selection has great potentiality.