AGRONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF COWPEA ELITE LINES IN THE STATES OF MINAS GERAIS AND MATO GROSSO, BRAZIL

Vanet Batista De Souza,Kaesel Jackson Damasceno-Silva,Marlon Lopes Lacerda,Maurisrael De Moura Rocha,Israel Alexandre Pereira Filho,Abner José De Carvalho

doi:10.1590/1983-21252018v31n111rc

Abstract

ABSTRACT The objective of this work was to evaluate the agronomic performance of erect and semi-erect cowpea elite lines grown in the States of Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso, Brazil. The experiments were conducted in Jaíba, Janaúba, Sete Lagoas (Minas Gerais), Primavera do Leste and Nova Ubiratã (Mato Grosso), with 20 genotypes of cowpea, arranged in a randomized block design with four replications. The data were subjected to individual and joint analyses of variance and means grouped by the Scott-Knott test (p<0.05). The plant growth habit, lodging, cultivation value, pod length and bean yield were evaluated. The lines MNC04-768F-21 and MNC04F-795F-168 had the highest bean yield in the experiments conducted in Mato Grosso, and their growth habit, lodging and cultivation value were similar to those of the cultivar BRS-Guariba. The lines MNC04-769F-30, MNC05-795F-154 and MNC04-769F-49 and the cultivar BRS-Tumucumaque had the highest bean yield in the experiments conducted in Minas Gerais. However, the cultivars BRS-Guariba, BRS-Tumucumaque, BRS-Novaera, BRS-Itaim and BRS-Cauamé and the lines MNC04-792F-143 and MNC04-792F-144 showed satisfactory bean yield and good growth habit, plant lodging and cultivation value in the State of Minas Gerais, especially in the northern region of the state (Jaíba and Janaúba), representing good alternatives for the genotypes recommended for this region.

Highlights

IntroductionCowpea is mainly grown in Brazil by small farms using low technological level, the average national crop yield is very low, approximately 401 kg ha-1 (EMBRAPA, 2016)
The world planted area of cowpea is 10.4 million hectares, which is located mainly in tropical and subtropical regions of America, Asia and Africa; the world production of cowpea beans is about 5.5 million Mg, and Nigeria is the world's largest producer (FAO, 2016).Cowpea is mainly grown in Brazil by small farms using low technological level, the average national crop yield is very low, approximately 401 kg ha-1 (EMBRAPA, 2016)
The Northeast of Brazil is the main producing region of cowpea, its production area has expanded to the Brazilian Southeast and Center-West regions, especially to the State of Mato Grosso, where it is produced on approximately 140,000 hectares (CONAB, 2016), focused mainly in international markets

Summary

Introduction

Cowpea is mainly grown in Brazil by small farms using low technological level, the average national crop yield is very low, approximately 401 kg ha-1 (EMBRAPA, 2016). The Northeast of Brazil is the main producing region of cowpea, its production area has expanded to the Brazilian Southeast and Center-West regions, especially to the State of Mato Grosso, where it is produced on approximately 140,000 hectares (CONAB, 2016), focused mainly in international markets. The northern State of Minas Gerais (Brazilian Southeast region) has an expressive consumer market and production of cowpea, this production is limited by several factors, especially by the low technology level used and current cultivars recommended for planting in this region, which are based on results of researches carried out in other regions of the country

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Conclusion