Background

 

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata [L.] Walp) is an important food and nutritional security legume in many households in Zambia, especially among the resource constrained farmers who grow it for consumption and income generation. Furthermore, cowpea plays a vital role in soil improvement and management through its ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen.

 

Despite its importance, cowpea productivity among resource poor farmers remains very low. Among other factors attributed to low productivity of cowpea, is its susceptibility to Ascochyta blight, which attacks all above ground parts of the plant and can cause death of the whole plant. The common approach in controlling Ascochyta blight is using fungicides which leads to increased cost of production. One of the most effective and long-term control measures against Ascochyta blight is breeding for resistance. However, little studies have been conducted in this area in Zambia. Therefore, this project will screen and select parent materials, which are resistant to Ascochyta blight for use in cowpea breeding programs.