Evaluation of Cowpea Magic Population for Resistance to False Rust
Abstract
Cowpea is one of the most important food crops in Africa, it is an importance source of food for man feed for
animals and is traded for income. In Uganda, cowpea production is constrained by biotic and abiotic factors;
among the biotic factors is Yellow blister disease which causes yield loss for highly susceptible varieties. The
cowpea breeding programme has introduced new lines (MAGIC) population to broaden its existing germplasm
base and increase cowpea yield through different strategies including improvement of genetic resistance to
fungal and viral diseases. The genotypes have very good agronomic traits however their reaction to false rust
disease has not been determined. Therefore the general objective of this study was to contribute knowledge
towards improvement of cowpea yields through evaluating cowpea MAGIC population for false rust
resistance and the specific objectives to determine cowpea lines resistant to false rust disease from the MAGIC
population and to determine the relationship between false rust and the yield performance of the MAGIC
cowpea lines under natural conditions. The study was conducted at Makerere University Agricultural Research
Institute Kabanyolo (MUARIK) in central Uganda. A Multiparent advanced generation inter cross (MAGIC)
cowpea population has been evaluated for resistance to false rust disease. Out of the 305 genotypes, 178
distinct lines are available for this study. These together with 4 landrace lines will be evaluated. The
experimental design was laid out in a 14 x 13 alpha lattice design. False rust disease symptoms were recorded
on plants using a scale of 1-9. Disease scoring was done for foliage and pods weeks. The data collected on
disease and yield parameters were summarized in Microsoft excel sheet and subjected to Analysis of Variance
(ANOVA) using GenStat statistical package 14th edition. Significant differences between treatment means
were separated using Fisher’s Least Significant Difference (LSD) test at 5% confidence level. Results from
the study showed that False rust disease severity score within the genotypes was significant (P< 0.05) within
genotypes but the correlation with yield was low which suggests that there might have been other factors
responsible for yield reductions. Therefore, the lines should further be evaluated in terms of resistance to False
rust disease can be introduced to the cowpea breeding program. This will ensure both high yields of Cowpea