Journal of Applied Horticulture. 2003: 5(2): 105-107

Inbreeding depression in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.).

Pal, A K; Singh, B; Maurya, A N

Department of Horticulture, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, BHU, Varanasi - 221 005 (U.P.), India.

A study was conducted during 1999-2000 in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, to investigate the inbreeding depression between Vigna unguiculata and V. sesquipedalis [V. unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis]. The experiment was carried out in a line x tester design and data on 30 hybrids generated from 13 parents were analysed for inbreeding depression in the F2 generation. Observations were recorded for 13 characters, i.e. days to 50% flowering, days to 1st green pod picking, plant height, peduncle length, number of primary branches per plant, pod length, pod diameter, number of peduncles per plant, number of pods per peduncle, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, green pod yield per plant and 100-seed weight. Significant and varying degrees of inbreeding depression was observed for all the parameters, indicating the presence of high degree of diversity among the parents and presence of non-additive gene action. Cross combination KLS-10 x Cowpea-263 yielded more in the F2 generation for green pod yield per plant, which indicated the role of fixable gene effects.