Date of Graduation

5-2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences

Advisor/Mentor

Shi, Ainong

Committee Member

Mason, Richard

Second Committee Member

Lisa, Wood

Third Committee Member

Mozzoni, Leandro

Abstract

Cowpea [Vigna unguiculate (L.) Walp.] is not only a healthy, nutritious and versatile leguminous crop, it also has a relatively high adaptation to drought. Researches have shown that cowpea lines have a high tolerance to drought, and many of them can survive over 40 days under very hot and dry conditions. The cowpea (Southern pea) breeding program at the University of Arkansas (UA) has been active for over 50 years and has produced more than 1,000 advanced breeding lines. And the purpose of this study is to evaluate the drought-tolerant ability in Arkansas cowpea lines and use the drought tolerant lines in cowpea production or as parents in cowpea breeding. A total of 36 UA breeding lines were used to screen drought tolerance at the seedling stage in this study. The experiment was conducted in greenhouse using completely randomized design (CRD) with two replicates. Drought stress was applied for four weeks, and three drought tolerant related traits were collected and analyzed. Results showed that cowpea breading line: 17-81, 17-86, Early Scarlet, and AR Blackeye #1 were found to be drought tolerant.

Keywords

Cowpea; Drought Tolerant; Seedling Stage; Arkansas Breeding Cowpea Lines; Service learning

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