Abstract
Cowpea is a legume of great importance in the Brazilian nutrition, mainly in the Northeast region. Despite the low yield of Brazilian cowpea, the species presents a genetic potential to be explored. Thus, this work aimed to characterize the genetic diversity of cowpea genotypes by agronomic traits and select genotypes for possible crosses by multivariate analysis. Four value for cultivation and use tests were carried out with cowpea genotypes in 2005 and 2006, in the municipalities of Aquidauana, Chapadão do Sul, and Dourados, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The experimental design was a complete randomized block with 20 genotypes and four replications. The evaluated traits were value for cultivation, plant lodging, pod length, grain weight of five pods, number of grains per pod, pod weight, severity of powdery mildew, and grain yield. To estimate the genetic diversity among the genotypes, the optimization methods of Tocher and UPGMA were used. The generalized distance of Mahalanobis was used as a dissimilarity measure. The clustering methods revealed genetic variability among the cowpea genotypes evaluated. The methods used formed a different number of groups for each environment. Genotypes TE97-309G-24, MNC99-542F-5, BRS Paraguaçu, BRS Paraguaçu, BR 17-Gurguéia, and CNC x 409-11F-P2 can be used to obtain promising combinations and high genetic variability.
Highlights
Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) is a legume of high relevance in the Brazilian nutrition, mainly in the Northeast region
The species is an important source of proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and plant dietary fibers (FREIRE FILHO et al, 2011)
From Africa, cowpea was introduced in Brazil in the state of Bahia by the Portuguese settlers in the second half of the 16th century (FREIRE FILHO, 2011)
Summary
Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) is a legume of high relevance in the Brazilian nutrition, mainly in the Northeast region. From Africa, cowpea was introduced in Brazil in the state of Bahia by the Portuguese settlers in the second half of the 16th century (FREIRE FILHO, 2011). Since its introduction, it has spread all over the country. The Brazilian production in the 2015/2016 crop season was of 649,000 Mg, most in the Northeast region (376,700 Mg). In the Brazilian Midwest, yield reaches 1,285 kg ha-1, which is higher than the national mean, especially due to the high technological management applied to the crops in this region. The species presents genetic potential to exceed 6,000 kg ha-1, demonstrating that its yield potential has been little explored (PASSOS et al, 2007)
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