Earliness of an indeterminate crop, Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp., as affected by drought, temperature, and plant density

Abstract

Earliness of an indeterminate crop, Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp., was studied to aid development of selection techniques for improving adaptation to semiarid environments. Earliness was based upon the time of first appearance of floral buds and flowers, proportion of shoot dry matter in reproductive parts at midseason, and time of maturity. A cowpea land race, Chino 3, was earlier than cultivars California Blackeye No. 3 and No. 5, with respect to all of these criteria. Time to flowering from different sowing dates was related to heat units, which were calculated from daily mean air temperature above a base temperature of c. 10�C. The proportions of shoot dry matter in reproductive parts during early stages of pod-filling were greater with moderate drought but were unaffected by severe drought, compared with the response of adequately irrigated plants. Widely spaced plants exhibited greater proportions of shoot dry matter in reproductive parts at midseason than did closely spaced plants. Adaptation of cowpeas to semiarid environments may be improved by selecting for early partitioning of carbohydrates to reproductive parts. Selection for early partitioning may be more effective in adequately watered conditions, owing to extreme variability under drought, and at wide and precise spacing.