Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » Mayaguez, Puerto Rico » Tropical Crops and Germplasm Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #256714
Title: Field Performance of Cowpea Genotypes Grown under Virus Pressure in Puerto Rico

Author
item Goenaga, Ricardo
item Gillaspie, Athey - Graves
item Quiles-Belen, Adolfo

Submitted to: African Crop Science Journal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/7/2011
Publication Date: 8/12/2011
Citation: Goenaga, R.J., Gillaspie Jr, A.G., Quiles-Belen, A. 2011. Field Performance of Cowpea Genotypes Grown under Virus Pressure in Puerto Rico. African Crop Science Journal. 19(2):97-103.

Interpretive Summary: Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) is a nutritious annual legume and an important staple in Africa, South and Central America, the Caribbean, India, Australia and many parts of the United States.Viral diseases, particularly Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) and Blackeye cowpea mosaic virus (BlCMV), are a limiting factor in cowpea production, therefore, identifying sources of resistance is an important objective of cowpea improvement programs. We evaluated in replicated field plots and under virus pressure the performance of four PI’s (441917, 441919, 612607, 180014) and a commercial cultivar (Coronet), in Puerto Rico during 2007-2008. Previous research suggested that PI 441917 has tolerance CMV and BlCMV. PI 441917 had the highest grain yield (3682.8 kg.ha-1) among all genotypes except for the virus resistant control PI 612607, which was not significantly different. PI 441917 also had the following average values for various traits: 100-seed weight, 20.2 g; seed protein, 22.8%; pod length, 23.7 cm; plant height, 48.0 cm; days to midbloom, 48.5; days to maturity, 66.3. These results confirm previous studies which showed that PI 441917 is an excellent yielder when plants are grown under virus pressure. This accession should be useful to growers and cowpea breeding programs to help control yield losses by CMV and BlCMV.

Technical Abstract: Cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] is an important grain legume in many regions of the tropics. However, viral diseases, particularly Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) and Blackeye cowpea mosaic virus (BlCMV), can be a limiting factor in cowpea production. We evaluated in replicated field plots and under virus pressure the performance of four PI’s (441917, 441919, 612607, 180014) and a commercial cultivar (Coronet), in Puerto Rico during 2007-2008. Previous research suggested that PI 441917 has tolerance CMV and BlCMV. The experiments were planted in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Viral infection of plants with BlCMV and CMV in these experiments occurred naturally through insect vectors from mechanically inoculated spreader-row plants, as determined by direct antigen-coated enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (DAC-ELISA). PI 441917 had the highest grain yield (3682.8 kg.ha-1) among all genotypes except for the virus resistant control PI 612607, which was not significantly different. PI 441917 also had the following average values for various traits: 100-seed weight, 20.2 g; seed protein, 22.8%; pod length, 23.7 cm; plant height, 48.0 cm; days to midbloom, 48.5; days to maturity, 66.3. These results confirm previous studies which showed that PI 441917 is an excellent yielder when plants are grown under virus pressure. This accession should be useful in cowpea breeding programs to help control yield losses by CMV and BlCMV.