1Department of Horticulture, M S Swaminathan School of Agriculture, Centurion University of Technology and Management, Paralakhemundi-761 211, Gajapati, Odisha, India.
*Corresponding Author: Manisha, Department of Horticulture, M S Swaminathan School of Agriculture, Centurion University of Technology and Management, Paralakhemundi-761 211, Gajapati, Odisha, India. Email: manisha@cutm.ac.in
Cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] is one of the main vegetable crop, serving as an essential protein and carbohydrate source and lack of comprehensive information on genetic variability, correlation analysis, path analysis and genetic divergence all of which are necessary for focused breeding programmes that aim to improve cowpea cultivars.
The present investigation was executed during Zaid 2024 to know morphological and genetic variations in cowpea genotypes. Qualitative and quantitative analysis among 22 genotypes revealed the existence of genetic diversity capability in studied genotypes.
The overall mean value of Shannon-Weaver diversity index was 1.284 which confirmed the existence of diversity among the genotypes. Among these, genotypes ‘IC-202926’, ‘IC-259071’, ‘C-1070’, ‘CP-732’, ‘Ankur Ketaki’, ‘Kashi Nidhi’ and ‘RHS-Kanakam’ and others stood out for their high green pod yield per plant. Traits like plant height and pod yield per plant showed high coefficients of variation (phenotypic and genotypic) indicating potential for improvement. Furthermore, high heritability coupled with substantial genetic advance was observed for plant height (cm), pod diameter, chlorophyll content (mg/g), total vitamin C (mg/100 g) and pod yield per plant (g). This suggests these traits are influenced by additive genes, making early generation selection effective. Pod diameter, number of pods per plant and 100 Seed weight emerged as the most crucial selection criteria for enhancing green pod yield in cowpea.
Cowpea, Genetic advance, Heritability, Shannon-Weaver diversity index
