Heritability Studies in Different Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata [L.,] walp) Varieties

Abstract

The heritability studies in the three Selected Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata [L.,] Walp) Varieties (IT87D941 - I, IT97K 499 - 35 and Dankurmi) were conducted at the green house of the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. Many traits recorded a high estimate of phenotypic coefficient of variation ranging from 42.20% for pod length to 71.06% for number of seeds per pod in parents and F1. Low estimates were however recorded for genotypic coefficient of variation for all the traits except for pod length (40.07%) in the parents and F1. Similarly, relatively low Broad sense heritability estimates ranging from 0.04 to 0.02 were obtained in the parents and F1 and 0.09 to 0.17 in the F2population.It is recommended that synchronization of flowering dates for genetic studies to be February, March and October, November plantings in studies involving photo-sensitive and Photo-insensitive
varieties during which both photo-sensitive and photo-insensitive varieties flower early that coincide with short day length, 12.5 hrs. Besides these, the plant cowpea should be improved through hybridization and the necessary cross combination through selection using traits with high phenotypic coefficient of variability (PCV), genotypic coefficient of variability (GCV) estimates. Characters with low broad sense heritability may not easily be inherited. Also, selection using these traits with high phenotypic coefficient of variation and high genotypic coefficient of variation is suggested to improve productivity.