Tracking agronomic diversity in land races of cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walpers] collected from Pakistan

Seventy one accessions of Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walpers belonging to 31 districts of three provinces across Pakistan were characterized. High variation was recorded in plant height, branches per plant, pods per plant, grain yield, biomass and harvest index. It has been derived from current studies that migration of germplasm or seeds were observed across various areas that might be due to frequent exchange of grains, between different markets and transportation without any provincial laws implementations. High phenotypic diversity indicates the potential land races collected from farmer’s field might be utilized for crop improvement programs viz., 27028, 27029, 27038, 27040, 27042, 27047, 27083 and 27097. Phenotypic diversity analyzed within each district indicated the possibility of migration of landraces at one hand and on the other hand variation appears attributable to different districts without influence that how frequently area was explored. Intra and inter-specific variances deviated from central tendency depicted on the map of Pakistan shall be proved beneficial for future germplasm collectors to devise strategy for collecting genes of interest. New expeditions may be conducted in the main cowpea growing areas with focusing geographically and ecologically distinct areas, rather than fields closer to motorable roads.      Keywords: Underutilized crops; Legumes; Landraces; Genetic diversity http://dx.doi.org/10.19045/bspab.2017.600134