Identification of selection indices and choosing of parents for vegetable cowpea (Vigna unguiculata cv-gr. sesquipedalis) breeding programme

In the present study seventeen genotypes of vegetable cowpea (Vigna unguiculata cv-gr. Sesquipedalis) collected from different places in the country were evaluated for different horticultural traits for genetic variation, character association, cause-effect analysis and genetic diversity was measured among the genotypes through D² statistics. All the eight characters under study differed significantly among the genotypes. High to moderate GCV and PCV values were found for number of pods per plant, pod yield per plant, pod weight, number of seeds per pod and pod length. Higher estimates of broad sense heritability coupled with higher genetic advance for number of pods per plant, pod yield per plant, pod weight, number of seeds per pod and pod length. Association studies revealed that genotypic correlation coefficients were higher than their phenotypic correlation coefficients in most of the cases. From the correlation and path analysis, it can be concluded that emphasis should be given on number of pods per plant and pod weight for selecting high yielding genotypes. Based on the degree of divergence the genotypes were grouped into seven clusters. The top three characters which contributed most towards the genetic divergence were number of seeds per pod, pod yield per plant and pod weight. Cluster II had genotypes with high pod productivity, while the genotypes in Cluster III flowered much earlier. Crossing between genotypes within these groups could produce highly productive and early maturing cowpea genotypes.