Genetic Variability and Performance Evaluation of Cowpea [(Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp] Accessions on High Altitude of Jos Plateau State, Nigeria

The present study was carried out to evaluate the genetic variability and performance evaluation of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) accessions with the objective of selecting accessions with the best adaptability and potentiality for upgrading grain yield and other related traits on high altitude of Jos plateau. A field experiment was therefore carried out at Dagwom farm at the National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI) Vom, in Jos South Local Government area of Plateau state, during the 2013 and 2014 rainy seasons. The treatments consisted of eighty (80) cowpea g accessions obtained from International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Ibadan, Nigeria. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) in two replicates. The result was analysed using (ANOVA) model and showed significant difference at (P<0.01) among the entries for all the characters accessed. High phenotypic coefficient of variability (PCV) compared with genotypic coefficient of variability (GCV) coupled with low environmental coefficient of variability (ECV) were observed for all the yield and related traits accessed. High broad sense heritability (h2) coupled with high genetic advance (GAM %) attributed to high additive gene effect observed for all the characters observed in this study, except days to maturity which recorded high heritability with moderate genetic advance. In terms of performance, TVU-2972 and TVU-2174 were selected as accessions with high establishment capacity, TVU-4578 and TVU-7705 were selected as the early maturing accessions, while TVU-10431 was selected as the bold seeded genotype. The highest grain yield was produced by TVU-3188 and TVU-7918. All the above accessions were selected based on their high mean performance compared to other accessions. There is, therefore, need for hybridization between these selected accessions for evolving unique varieties of cowpea on high altitude area of Jos plateau.