Inheritance of Seedcoat Colour in Wild and Landrace Genotypes of Cowpea Grown in Bauchi, Nigeria

For increased value addition and preference of the cowpea grain, the need to determine the basic sources of genes conditioning, seed coat colour and colour patterns in natural population is desirable. Screen house and field evaluation studies involving landrace cowpeas and their wild relative (Dekindtiana var. pubescens) were carried out in Tafawa Balewa and Bar Arewa in Bauchi Northern Guinea Agroecology of Nigeria, to study the inheritance of seed coat colour in cowpea. Thirty genotypes of cowpea, comprising 10 parents, nine F1, two backcrosses and nine F2 were advanced from collection and hybridization trial. These were laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications in the wet season (July – October) of 2018. The parental genotypes bred true to type and all the F1 plants of the nine crosses had 1Black: 1Black spotted with brown within locules of a single pod irrespective of the parental seed coat colour. The backcrosses and the F2 population in all the crosses had plants with seed coat colour and colour patterns in the range of five to twelve. The results unveils the genetic bases of seed coat colour in cowpea, where, early introgression of genes between landrace cowpeas and their wild relative (Dekindtiana var. pubescens) accounted for the varying cowpea seed coat colour and colour patterns observed in natural populations. These can deliberately be developed as options for researchers, growers and consumers preference.