Effectiveness of Early Generation Selection in Cowpea for Grain Yield and Agronomic Characteristics in Semiarid West Africa

Abstract

The effectiveness of early generation selection for grain yield in a cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] population was examined in the Guinea and Sudan savanna agroecologies of Ghana where genotype × location interaction is known to be large. A set of 131 F3:4 lines were developed from a cross between a local cultivar and an unadapted source of large grain size. Mild selection was practiced during line development at one location in the Guinea savanna zone to eliminate poorly adapted lines. Unreplicated F3 plant data were collected on all the lines at the one location during the development of the lines. Multilocation trials were conducted with lines formed by bulk harvest of F4 families to assess how effectively the early generation selection protocol was able to generate superior lines for the target agroecology. Genotypic correlation for grain yield between locations was high only between the two locations in the Guinea savanna zone. Narrow‐sense heritability estimates were low and not different from zero for grain yield, but heritability estimates for days to flowering and seed size were large. F4 lines derived from the highest 10% performing F3 individuals were no higher yielding than F4 lines derived from the remaining F3 individuals, indicating that early generation selection for yield was ineffective. Single‐seed descent (SSD) or bulk breeding methods will be more efficient than pedigree breeding for developing cowpea varieties with high yield potential for this agroecology.

Implications of early selection for resistance to anthracnose in genetic breeding of common bean

“…Similar results of early selection on traits of greater heritability and their effect on selection for grain yield in more advanced generations are found in the literature, such as in common bean (Santos et al 2001) and in cowpea (Padi and Ehlers 2008). In the case of the study of Santos et al (2001), early selection was carried out for grain type, a trait which, at least in principle, does not undergo the action of natural selection, and is not correlated with grain yield, in contrast to resistance to anthracnose reported in this study.…”

“…There are some reports in the literature regarding the effect of early selection for a high heritability trait in selection for grain yield in advanced generations (Santos et al 2001, Padi andEhlers 2008). However, no report was found regarding the effect of early selection with a view toward pathogen resistance in common bean.…”

Green Bean Yield and Path Analysis in Cowpea Landraces

“…Different traits are selected in breeding programs, including grain yield, drought resistance, and photosynthetic rate (PADI; EHLERS, 2007;HALL, GRANTZ, 1980;BIRADAR;SALIMATH;PATIL, 2010). In these programs, landraces can be used for hybridization with improved cultivars (BIRADAR; SALIMATH; PATIL, 2010;PADI;EHLERS, 2007) or subjected to selection (HALL; GRANTZ, 1980;HEDGE;MISHRA, 2009) because they tend to exhibit large variability resulting from mutations, natural crossing, and the mechanical mixing of seeds. Mass selection and individual plant selection using the progeny test are potentially interesting for selecting commercial landraces (FREIRE FILHO et al, 2012).…”

“…Thus, direct selection for cowpea yield has been proposed as the best method for selecting cowpea landraces (SHIMELI; SHIRINGANI, 2010). However, heritability for grain yield may be relatively low and close to zero in some cases, which may be a problem for direct selection (PADI;EHLERS, 2007;ALIDU et al, 2013). There are no studies comparing the effectiveness of direct and indirect selection for cowpea.…”

Combined selection and multivariate analysis in early generations of intraspecific progenies of peanuts

“…For selection in early generation test (EGT), such as F2 and F3, Bernardo (2003) suggests that the effectiveness of inheritance can be assessed by the pre-existing knowledge of properties of variance components, additiveness and non-additiveness. The higher the additive effect on the traits under study, the greater the potential of the early selection for them (Padi and Ehlers, 2008;Yang, 2009).…”