Inheritance Study of Qualitative and Quantitative Traits in Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp)

Two parents namely Konkan Sadabahar and Fodder cowpea-1 were used to study inheritance of four qualitative characters (i. e. , growth habit, flower colour, seed coat colour and seed coat colour pattern) and four quantitative characters i. e. pod length (cm), number of pods/plant, number of seeds/pod and seed size (g). The qualitative characters were studied using chi-square test. Out of four qualitative traits growth habit, flower colour and seed coat colour pattern revealed monogenic nature of inheritance segregating in Mendelian ratio (31) and seed coat colour was inherited digenically indicating dominant epistasis (1231). Joint segregation was studied and linkage was revealed only between seed coat colour and seed coat colour pattern. The quantitative characters were studied by comparison of range, mean, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation in parents, F1 and F2 generation. The amount of variability generated in F2 for number of grains/pod was more than both the parents. This result can be used for further selection of plant progenies for crop improvement programme.