Abstract
Heritability of grain protein in cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) was studied in two locations (Kadawa and Samaru, in northern Nigeria) among F1, F2, and backcross generations of crosses involving three parent lines in the following combinations: High (2/180-4-12) x Low (11/48-2), High (2-180-4-12) x Low (L-25), and Low (11/48-2) x Low (L-25). Broad-sense heritability estimates ranged from 40.7% in the cross Low x Low to 73.4% in the cross Low x High. Narrow-sense heritability estimates varied from 26.8 to 40.3%. These values indicated that a substantial proportion of the total variation for this character was under genetic control. Both additive and dominance effects were identified, and a minimum of one to three genes was estimated to control grain protein percentage in these cowpea lines.
