Hierarchical Clustering and charactassociation studies in cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.)Walp.]

Abstract

Studies on 41 diverse genotypes of cowpea indicated the existence of fairly high degree of variability for plant height, peduncle length, number of peduncles and pods per plant, pod length, pod weight and pod yield per plant. Higher estimates of heritability coupled with the higher genetic advance for plant height, number of peduncles per plant, number of days to flower and pod yield per plant indicated that heritability is mainly due to additive genetic effects. Correlation analysis pointed out the importance of number of branches per plant, number of peduncles per plant, pod length, pod weight and number of seeds per pod towards pod yield. Pod weight exerted the maximum positive direct effect on pod yield followed by number of pods per plant and pod length. Selection pressure on these traits may lead to an overall increase in pod yield per plant. The inter-cluster representatives of distant clusters would be more useful for choosing the parents in cowpea breeding programme.