Future directions of the Bean/Cowpea Collaborative Research Support Program

Abstract

The Bean/Cowpea Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP) has provided an opportunity for experienced US scientists to become involved in international research and development in a way that also has benefited their research for the USA. The comparative advantage of the CRSP is in plant breeding, but with a broad interdisciplinary approach that also develops compatible management and processing methods, thereby enhancing system sustainability, food quality and marketing opportunities for beans and cowpeas. The CRSP should continue to make uniquely important contributions to bean and cowpea cultivar development. In addition, it should give some emphasis to up-stream research, such as the development of improved technologies for indirect DNA-marker-assisted selection (MAS) that could lead to improved plant breeding methods. A careful approach to the development of transgenic lines is recommended that is limited to transferring important genes not currently present in the species into cowpea and possibly bean germplasm, for example those that confer resistance to specific major insect pests of cowpea. The CRSP should continue to play a major role in graduate education, and could take advantage of distance learning via the internet to enhance collaboration in education and research among universities in developing countries and the USA. CRSP scientists can and should play a key role in enhancing mutual understanding and collaboration on an international scale because this could make major contributions to world peace.