Selection for Parents in Cowpea Hybrid Breeding

We investigated and analyzed the agronomic and yield characters of sixteen cowpea cultivars, and determined the hybrid compatibility of five cultivars. The results showed that, the pod length of A12 and single pod weight of cultivar No.8 had extremely significant difference compared with other cultivars, and A9 and cultivar No.41 had most pod number of a single plant. Moreover, the four cultivars had higher hybrid compatibility, and they were suitable hybrid parents for cowpea breeding.