GENETICS AND INHERITANCE PATTERN OF TIME OF FLOWERING AND QUANTITATIVE TRAITS IN COWPEA [Vigna unguiculata (L

📄 Project Abstract

Field experiments were carried out in 2006 and 2007 cropping seasons at the Teaching and Research Farm of the Department of Crop Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, to study the inheritance pattern of days to flowering and quantitative traits in cowpea. The experimental materials comprised 10 cowpea accessions sourced from Plateau and Enugu States of Nigeria. Reciprocal crosses were generated and the parents, F1, F2 and BC populations were evaluated for days to flowering under long day length (averaged 13.4 hd-1) and short day length (10hd-1) conditions. Characters assessed included days to 50% emergence, number of leaves plant-1, number of primary branches plant-1, vine length, number of peduncles plant-1, number of flowers plant-1, number of pods plant-1 and grain yield. The study established the accessions from Plateau state as short day (SD) plants and those from Enugu state as day neutral (DN) plants. The parental lines differed significantly (P<0.05) in days to flowering, pod...