M.S. Mohammed, Z. Russom, S.D. Abdul
Crosses were made between five cultivated cowpea varieties (Dandunga, IT89KD-288, IT93K-452-1, IT97K-499-38 and IT81D-994) and their wild relative, var. pubescens (TVNu 110-3A) to investigate their cross-compatibility as well as reproductive potential of the respective F1 hybrid plants. The wild relative, which was used as pollen parent, crossed well with the cultivated cowpea varieties with pod set ranging from 54 – 63.9%. F1 hybrid plants grew vigorously and produced viable seeds. The result showed high level of cross-compatibility between the cultivated cowpea varieties and the wild relative. Seeds of the F1 hybrid plants, which were advanced to F2, indicated sufficient reproductive potential of the hybrids.
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