Potential donors for powdery mildew resistance in cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.]

Abstract

Powdery mildew is one of the serious diseases of cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] prevalent in southern India. Therefore, the present investigation was carried out at the IARI Centre for Improvement of Pulses in South, Dharwad during kharif 2002 and 2003. A set of 120 germplasm accessions (excluding local checks) of cowpea germplasm of diverse origin were grown in augmented design. The cowpea variety V 240 (Rambha) and a local variety (Dharwad local) were used as checks after every 10th entry. Observations on the severity of powdery mildew disease were recorded at podding and maturity stages. The observations on the ancillary characters were also recorded at appropriate stages. Out of 120 germplasm accession under study, 101 turned out to be susceptible (PMS) and only 11 resistant to powdery mildew (PMR). Notably, five germplasm accessions namely, C 7, C 200, C 265, C 347 and C 402 maintained high level of resistance during both the years. These genotypes may be good parents for genetic analysis of the PMR trait and and resistance breeding of cowpea.