Abstract
ABSTRACT Six cowpea genotypes and their F2 hybrid combinations were evaluated for general and specific combining ability. The Griffing's diallel cross design, Method 2, and mixed model B were used. The genotypes and hybrids differed statistically (p <0.01) for the 10 studied traits. With regard to the general and specific combining ability, there were statistical differences at 1% probability for all traits. The presence of additive and non-additive gene effects paves the way for breeding new hybrid cultivars. However, additive gene effects were predominant in the trait expression. Genotypes CE-542, CE-954 and CE-796 were identified as the most promising of the test group for inclusion in cowpea breeding programs.
Highlights
Cowpea is one of the key food sources in the arid, semi-arid and tropical parts of Asia, Oceania, southern Europe, Africa, southern United States, and Central and South America (Singh et al 2002)
The variations in crop production under different environmental conditions stimulated the development of stable cultivars in breeding programs, with the selection of high-yielding lines (Romanus et al 2008)
The crosses between genotypes were made in a greenhouse of Embrapa Meio Norte, by two methods: Methodology A a) Collection of pollen from open flowers in the morning, wrapping in paper bags and cold storage (4 °C); b) Emasculation and pollination of developed flowers that opened after 24 hours, or in the late afternoon of the day prior to natural anthesis
Summary
Cowpea is one of the key food sources in the arid, semi-arid and tropical parts of Asia, Oceania, southern Europe, Africa, southern United States, and Central and South America (Singh et al 2002). The variations in crop production under different environmental conditions stimulated the development of stable cultivars in breeding programs, with the selection of high-yielding lines (Romanus et al 2008). According to FAO (http://faostat3.fao.org/home/index.html), the world cowpea production in 2011 was 4.9 million tons, harvested from a cultivated area of more than 10 million hectares, mainly in Nigeria, Niger and Brazil. It is noteworthy that in Brazil, the IBGE does not distinguish data of common bean from those of cowpea, unlike several other producing countries. For Singh (2006), cowpea production is relevant in more than 65 countries. The lack of information about the crop in Brazil hampers data collection for FAO
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