The lack of morphological characterization of cowpea varieties significantly hinders the effective utilization of the genetic diversity present within this crop for its development and viable agricultural productivity. This also impedes the development of superior cowpea varieties that are resistant to climatic problems and environmental stresses which have led to a great task for plant breeders and farmers. As a result of this, the current research was conducted to assess the diversity present in eight cowpea accessions using morphological characters so as to select the best accession for further breeding work. The research was conducted at the botanical garden of the department Plant Science and Biotechnology, Federal University Oye-Ekiti. Two seeds of each accession were planted in a 3 m plot of inter-row spacing of 1m and intra-row spacing of 50 cm and replicated thrice in a randomized complete block design (RCBD). Data was collected on ten morphological characters at maturity and analyzed using ANOVA, principal component analysis (PCA), and cluster analysis. The first three principal component axes accounted for 88.66% of total variation as shown by PCA, with days to flowering, plant height, and yield-related traits having the highest contribution to diversity. Cluster analysis clustered the accessions into four clusters, isolating accessions 14k-2132- 1 and 10k-843-3 as morphologically distinct, suggesting that they possess distinctive morphological traits that varied significantly from others, making it selection material for further breeding programs. The findings highlight the significance of morphological traits in assessing genetic diversity, guiding selection for developing cowpea varieties with high yield, disease-resistant, and stress-tolerant.
Cowpea accessions, morphological traits, genetic diversity, cluster analysis and principal component analysis