Vegetos
(An International Journal of Plant Research & Biotechnology)
(eISSN: 2229-4473)
Unraveling genetic diversity in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) for yield and yield attributing traits through multivariate analysis
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Research Articles | Published: 24 March, 2026
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Keywords: Cowpea, Genetic diversity, Quantitative traits, n Vigna unguiculatan , Mahalanobis D2 analysis, Genotype clustering
Abstract
An experiment was carried out with 179 genotypes of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) at the Department of Pulses, CPBG, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. The genotypes were planted in two replications in randomized block design. Considerable amount of variations were observed in all the genotypes for all the thirteen quantitative traits studied. The genetic diversity study based on Mahalanobis D2 the genotypes were divided into seventeen distinct clusters, with cluster I being the largest. The greatest inter-cluster distance was between clusters II and VIII, and the highest intra-cluster distance was in cluster XII. On the basis of relative contribution of each trait towards the cluster hundred seed weight contributes more followed by days to maturity. The four genotypes viz., K-13-CP-40, VCP-10-008, VCP-12-008-1, and VCP-11-001 from cluster VIII and IX had the highest plant yield. The results of principal component analysis revealed four principal components with eigen values over one, explaining 63.98% of the total variance. Traits like peduncle length and seeds per pod had minimal impact on divergence, while pods per plant and clusters per plant had a significant impact. The selection of genotypes based on the significant traits can be more rewarding in future breeding activities. These findings can enhance cowpea breeding programs by selecting specific traits and identifying promising parent combinations.
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Author Information
Department of Pulses, Centre for Plant Breeding and Genetics, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India