Genetic analysis for forage yield and quality characters in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp)

This study was carried out to determine the combining ability of forage yield, its components and quality traits among crosses derived from nine selected cowpea parents. About 36 crosses were generated from diallel crosses, excluding reciprocals. These crosses and nine parents were evaluated for combining ability for forage yield, its components and quality traits. The results indicated that parent 85-5E was the best combiner for green fodder yield, dry matter yield, leaf length, leaf breadth, number of leaves per plant, number of branches per plant, crude protein content and in-vitro dry matter digestibility. Similarly, parent FOS 1 proved to be the best combiner for vine length, number of leaves per plant, number of branches per plant, crude protein content and in-vitro dry matter digestibility. The crosses involving FOS 1 x CL 398, CL 391 x C 88, FOS 1 x C 74, CL 396 x CL 391 and FOS 1 x C 88 were the best specific combiner for green fodder yield and most of its components traits. The ratio of gca/sca values was greater than unity for most of the forage and quality traits, inferring that additive gene action played an important role in their inheritance. In contrast, for traits like vine length, dry matter yield, crude protein content, and in-vitro dry matter digestibility, the above-said ratio was less than unity, indicating non-additive gene action played an important role. So, to utilize both additive and non-additive gene effects, modification of conventional breeding methods such as bi-parental breeding or reciprocal recurrent selection will be the better choice for initiating any cowpea breeding program.