Genetic Analysis of Flower Bud Thrips Resistance (Megalurothrips sjostedti) in Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata [L.] Walp.) in Burkina Faso

Cowpea is an important grain legume in sub Saharan Africa where its protein rich grains are consumed. However, its production is hampered by some major constraints including flower bud thrips (Megalurothrips sjostedti) that can cause 60% to total crop yield loss. Therefore, the development of resistant varieties becomes necessary. Thus, the present study was designed to determine the inheritance and elucidate the genetic control of cowpea resistance to thrips. Generation mean analysis model was exploited to assess the mode of inheritance of the resistance to flower bud thrips in cowpea using six generations (P1, P2, F1, F2, BC1P1 and BC1P2) derived from cross of Komcalle and Sanzi. Parameters such as number of flowers abortion per plant, number of pods per plant, thrips damage, number of thrips per plant and 100 seeds weight were exploited for progenies evaluation. Generation mean analysis revealed the existence of additive (a), additive x dominance (ad) and dominance x dominance (dd) effects as the mode of gene action predominantly involved into cowpea for thrips resistance control. Number of effective factors for thrips damage control varied from 3 (number of aborted flowers per plant) to 6 (weight of 100 seeds). Estimated Broad and narrow sense heritabilities for flower bud thrips resistance were low indicating large effect of the environment on the trait.