Cowpea

HYBRID SEED PRODUCTION OF COWPEA

1. HYBRID SEED PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY OF COWPEA

2. INTRODUCTION COMMON NAME : Cowpea or black-eyed pea SCIENTIFIC NAME : Vigna unguiculata FAMILY : Fabaceae ORIGIN : Africa CHROMOSOME NO. :2n=22 Cowpea is a typical warm season crop adopted to tropics Tender pods are used as a vegetable and dry beans as a pulse . Seeds contains 25% protein, vitamin-B, low fat content. It is used as fodder, green manure, and cover crop .

3. AREA : India :5800ha PRODUCTION : India : 4.8lakh tonnes PRODUCTIVITY : India : 8.44t/ha Grown all over India, more particularly in Central and Peninsular India. Karnataka, Maharashtra, M.P, Bihar, etc are major states.

4. LAND REQUIREMENT Land to be used for seed production should be free of volunteer plants. It can be grown successfully in different types of soil from loamy to sandy loam. The optimum soil pH should be between 6.0 to 7.0. PREPARATION OF LAND Land should be well prepared by ploughing and harrowing, 15cm raised beds of 120cm wide to be prepared keeping a 40cm wide drain between beds.

5. TIME OF SOWING NORTHERN PLAINS: End of F ebruary to middle of April. MONSOON CROP: Middle of June to the end of July. SOUTHERN PLAINS: December-January HILLS: April-May

6. SEED TREATMENT Treat the seed with Thirum (2gm.) + Carbendazim (1gm.). It is also desirable to treat the seed with Rhizobium culture @ 10g/kg seed. SOURCE OF SEEDS Obtain nucleus/breeders/foundation seed from source approved by a seed certification agency

7. SEED RATE Spring Season: 20-25kg seed/ha Rainy Season: 12-15kg seed/ha SPACING Kharif : 40-60cm by 10-15cm Summer and Spring: 25-30cm by 10-15cm

8. METHOD OF SOWING Seeds are sown by hands on the beds. Two lines are drawn on a bed at recommended spacing from each edge of the bed. Sowing of seed in a depth of 2-3 cm.

9. FERTILIZER Being a leguminous crop, cowpea requires less nitrogen. However, 10-20kg/ha nitrogen should be incorporated in the soil before sowing. Phosphorous and Potassium 50-70kg/ha each should be drilled in the soil before sowing.

10. IRRIGATION Sufficient irrigation should be provided when flowering starts. Previous irrigations should be light and as per requirements. IMPORTANT OPERATIONS 2-3 weedings and hoeings would be required to check the growth. About 150-170cm high trellis are to be provided for every two lines of a bed, trellis to be created in such a way that tops of sticks are bounded together to form a triangular structure with beds.

11. ANTHESIS AND FLOWERING There are 2-3 flowering period. Takes 11-14 days for the flowers to develop and bloom. Flower opening at morning from 6-10am. Dehiscence of anther prior to blooming i.e., 10pm-1am Time of anthesis is 3am-9am

12. FLOWER BIOLOGY Inflorescence is an unbranched , axillary raceme bearing several flowers at the tip of peduncle. Flowers are in alternate pairs, gamosepalous . Corolla is papilionaceous and having 3 different kinds of petals such as standard, wing and keel. Stamens are diadelphous (9+1). Anthers are bright yellow. Anthers are uniform and ovary is superior with many ovules.

13. Pollination  Highly self pollinated because of  Cleistogamy , Close proximity of the anthers and stigma and Simultaneous maturity of anthers and stigma Selfing   Keeping the plants in insect proof cages will lead to selfing . Covering of individual flower buds will lead to poor pod setting. Crossing  Select young buds, in an inflorescence and remove all immature buds. Split open the keel petals and remove the stamens one by one holding the filaments. Bring corolla back to position and cover the bud with a folded leaflet. Protection is given by keeping the plants in insect proof cages. Pollination is done on the next day morning by exposing the stigma from the keel petal and brushing it with the pollen collected from the male parent.

14. HYBRID SEED PRODUCTION CGMS SYSTEM THREE LINE SYSTEM In this method there are three different lines i .e. A-line or male sterile line, B-line or maintainer line and R-line or restorer line. For maintaining A-line it has to be crossed with B-line and for producing hybrid seed A-line has to be crossed with R-line.

15. Hybrid seed production involves two steps: Maintenance of parental line (A-line, B-line and R-line) Commercial hybrid seed production (A  x R) Maintenance of parental lines is generally referred as foundation seed production and hybrid seed production as certified seed class. The A-line can be maintained by crossing with B-line in an isolated plot, while in hybrid seed production A-line is crossed with R-line or fertility restorer line. The B-line and R-line can be maintained just like normal varieties by following required isolation and field standards.

16. ROGUING The off types and volunteer plants are to be removed as and when they occur from vegetative to harvesting stage based on leaf color, growth status, flower color, pod color, seed color etc.

17. PESTS Cowpea pod borer Control Measures Chlorpyripos @ 2.5 ml/ lt Spinosad @ 0.3 ml/ lt Aphids and Jassids Control Measures  : Spray of Oxydemeton Methyl 25 EC ( Metasystox ) @ 1 ml/ liter or Dimethoate 30 EC @ 1.7 ml/ liter of water.

18. DISEASE Cowpea Mosaic Control Measures :  C ontrol vectors with insecticides like acephate @ 1.5 gm/ lt or monocrotophos @ 106 ml/ lt Bacterial Blight Control Measures  : i ) Grow resistant varieties; ii) Use healthy and disease free seeds ; iii) In case of severe infection, crop may be sprayed with 0.2 % (2g/liter) copper oxychloride ( Blitox ).

19. HARVESTING Due to continuous flowering habit the pod setting will be continuous. Seed attains physiological maturity 27-30 days after anthesis . The pods are harvested by picking which are 4-5 in number. Once over harvesting leads to shattering of seeds. The pods at maturation will be straw yellow in color.

20. THRESHING The pods of cowpea are dried in the threshing floor and beaten with pliable bamboo sticks for removal of seeds. The extracted seeds are winnowed to get the seeds. The seeds should be dried to10-12% moisture content under sun for good seed storage.

21. GRADING The bulk seeds are graded using 3.96-4.6 mm metal round sieve. STORAGE The treated seeds can be stored up to one year in open storage and up to 2yrs in moisture vapour proof containers, provided the seeds are devoid of bruchid infestation both primarily and secondarily . SEED YIELD: 10-12q/ha

22. FIELD INSPECTION A minimum of 2 inspections should be done, the first before flowering, the second during flowering and fruiting stage.

23. SEED STANDARDS

24. FIELD STANDARDS GENERAL REQUIREMENTS ISOLATION(m) FOUNDATION CERTIFIED Cowpea 10 5

25. SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS Maximum permitted at and after flowering. Seed borne diseases are: ashy stem blight, anthracnose, ascochyta blight and cowpea mosaic . Contaminants Foundation Certified Off types (%) 0.10 0.20 Plants affected by seed borne 0.10 0.20 diseases (%)

26. NEW VARIETIES ARKA GARIMA ARKA SAMRUDHI

27. ARKA SUMAN LOLA

28. VARIETIES/HYBRIDS RECOMMENDED BY IARI AND NBPGR , New Delhi : Pusa Barsati Pusa Do- fasli Pusa Komal Pusa Phalguni Pusa Rituraj