College of Agriculture

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The College of Agriculture is committed to advancing agricultural education, research, and community service. It serves as a center for knowledge creation and dissemination in crop science, animal production, natural resource management, and sustainable agriculture.

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    GENETIC, MORPHOLOGICAL, AND AGRONOMIC EVALUATION OF COWPEA (VIGNA UNGUICULATA (L.) WALP.) GENOTYPES UNDER MOISTURE LIMITED AREAS OF SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA
    (Hawassa University College of Agriculture, 2022) YASIN GOA CHONDIE
    Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) is a legume predominantly grown in lowland areas of Ethiopia for grains, income source, feed, and to a lesser extent as a vegetable crop. However, several biotic and abiotic constraints and lack of improved varieties suited to different agro-climatic conditions limit its production. Therefore, the objectives of this dissertation work were to: i) Assess farmers’ perceived production constraints, farmers’ perceptions, farmers traits of preferences, and the production systems of cowpea in southern Ethiopia ii) Estimate the genetic diversity among cowpea genotypes based on morpho-agronomic traits iii) Assess the magnitude of genotype by environment interaction and yield stability of cowpea genotypes and thereby identify broad and/or narrowly adapted genotypes for production in south Ethiopia and; iv) Assess and select superior cowpea variety/varieties that meet farmers’ needs and preferences using farmers’ participatory variety selection (PVS). The study was conducted in southern Ethiopia from 2016 to 2018. Firstly, a participatory rural appraisal (PRA) approach was undertaken in the year 2016 in Konso, Kindo koyisha, Humbo, and Gofa districts, to identify farmers perceived cowpea production constraints, farmers' perceptions, farmers’’ traits of interest, and its importance in production systems. Semi-structured interviews, focused group discussions and discussions with key informants were used for data collection. Descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations and chi-square tests were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that the majority of farmers (92.7%) grow local landraces in the area and 12 production constraints were identified and prioritized. Diseases and insect pests, drought, lack of improved varieties, poor access to extensions, poor access to credit services, low soil fertility, farmland shortage, sub-optimal agronomic practices, and storage pests (mainly weevils) were some of the factors limiting cowpea production in south Ethiopia. The criteria used by farmers to select cowpea varieties included high grain and aboveground biomass yield, early maturity, resistance to diseases and insect pests, resistance to drought, good taste, seed color, large seed size, short cooking time, resistance to storage pests (weevils), resistance to shattering, marketability, leaf shedding, and suitability to XXI intercropping of the variety. This study implies that different types of varieties need to be developed for different areas. A field experiment was conducted at the Gofa research station during the 2016/17 main cropping season using 36 cowpea genotypes arranged in a simple lattice design. The Shannon diversity index ranging from 0.633 to 0.953 with a mean of 0.84 revealed a high degree of variation in qualitative traits of cowpea genotypes. Cluster analysis based on 14 quantitative traits grouped the 36 cowpea genotypes into six clusters, indicating that agro-morphological diversity exists. Clusters III and IV were found to be promising for yield and its major component traits, while the genotypes in Cluster VI had genotypes for earlier flowering and maturity. Therefore, clusters III, IV, and VI genotypes could be used directly in multi-location trials for their suitability to be released for successful cowpea production or could be source materials for obtaining desirable new recombinants for early maturity and higher yield in south Ethiopia. Thirdly, twenty cowpea genotypes were tested at Gofa, Kucha, and Humbo in Meher seasons of 2016 and 2017 (E1 to E6) and Belg seasons of 2017 and 2018 (E7 to E12) to investigate the influence of genotype by environment interaction and yield stability on cowpea genotypes. The experiments were laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Environment, Genotype, and GEI effects were highly significant (P<0.001) for the grain yield indicating differences between genotypes and variation of the environments. Additive Main Effects and Multiplicative Interactions (AMMI) and Genotype plus Genotype by Environment interaction (GGE) biplot), AMMI stability value (ASV), and Genotype Selection Index (GSI) were used for stability analysis. AMMI and GGE biplot, ASV and GSI indices identified G16 (IT-89KD), and G14 (IT93K293-2-2) as the highest yielding with better stability across environments, suggesting that it can be recommended for all cowpea growing areas of southern Ethiopia with weather conditions similar to the areas used in this study. The advanced lines, G12 (IT96D-604), G13 (93K-619-1), G20 (IT97K-569-9), and G15 (IT99K-1060) had higher grain yields than the checks and were suggested for further inclusion in the breeding program to boost cowpea production. Lastly, PVS was designed to assess and select superior cowpea varieties that meet farmers’ needs and preferences using farmers’ participation. In this study, eight cowpea varieties were laid out in an RCBD using three replications at Gofa research station and across three selected kebeles at three villages from each kebele(site) comprising a total of nine farmers' fields during the 2016 and 2017 main cropping XXII seasons.Combined mean values showed that Brazil-3 (1.65 t/ha), Brazil-2 (1.62 t/ha), Kenketi (1.53 t/ha), and bole (1.52t/ha) were high-yielding varieties with a yield advantage of 3.9 to 12.2% more than a check variety white wonderer trailing. These varieties also got high farmers' overall preference. Therefore, considering data on farmer preferences and field performance, two released varieties, kenekti and Bole, were selected as farmers’ first choice and can be recommended for further demonstration, popularization, and dissemination on farmers’ fields, while the two Brazilian varieties, Brazil-2 and Brazil-3 are preferred as the second category of choice by farmers must be registered according to national regulations of the country. Overall, this study documented the present cowpea production constraints, farmers’ perceptions, and farmer-preferred traits; indicated the presence of considerable genetic diversity among tested genotypes; identified cowpea genotypes with farmers' preferred traits. Also, advanced lines with high yields across environments were identified that can be recommended for release. In general, the research serves as the basis for designing further research and development programs by using the expressed farmers’ concerns and the identified promising genotypes to enhance sustainable cowpea production by smallholder farmers in southern Ethiopia and similar areas.