Indian Society of Genetics & Plant Breeding
A simple screening method was developed that accurately discriminates between
drought tolerant and susceptible cowpea {Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walpl varieties.
Wooden boxes (130 cm length. 65 em width. 15 em depth) made of 2.5 em thick
planks were lined with polythene sheets, filled with a 12 em layer of soil and sand
mixture (1:1) and kept on the table top in a screenhouse. Test materials were planted
in the boxes with 10 em between rows and 5 em between plants within the row
and watered daily until the partial emergence of the first trifoliate, after which
watering was stopped. Percent permanent wilting was recorded at various intervals
for each line until all the plants of the most susceptible lines were dead. Watering
was then resumed and percent plant recovery in each line recorded. Based on the
days taken to permanent wilting and percent recovery, cowpea lines IT9OK-59-2,
Kanannnado, Dan IIa, TVu 11979 and TVu 11986 were drought tolerant while
TVu 7778 and TVu 8256 were susceptible., Field and pot testing of these lines gave
a close correspondence between drought tolerance in seedling stage and reproductive
stage. The method has additional advantage that seedlings from the wooden boxes
can be saved and transplanted for further progeny testing and selection.
Keywords: Cowpea, Vigna unguiculata, drought tolerance
Year: 1999
Volume: 59
Issue: 2
Article DOI: NA
Print ISSN: 0019-5200
Online ISSN: 0975-6906
B. B. SINGH, Y. MAI-KODOMI AND T. TERAO info_circle
Download PDF