Nutritional Values of Cowpea Genotypes as Influenced by Bradyrhizoia in the Delmarva Region.

Cowpea, a drought tolerant crop, can serve as an insurance crop in the Delaware, Maryland and Virginia (Delmarva) peninsula region with sandy soils where drought often occurs in the summer. We evaluated 27 genotypes of cowpea in replicated field trials for their seed yield and nutritional content as affected by Bradyrhizobia. Protein contents in genotypes Worthmore, Big Boy and  Quickpick Pinkeye were 29.56, 29.65 and 28.44%, respectively, which were significantly higher  than most of the other genotypes. The addition of bradyrhizobia at the time of planting did not affect the protein contents of cowpea genotypes. The results also showed that genotypes Mississippi Silver, Pinkeye Purple Hull and California Blackeye 5 gave 4617, 34113 and 3145 kg/ha of seed yield, respectively, without the application of bradyrhizobia. However, with the application of  bradyrhizobia, genotypes Speckled Purple Hull, Dimple Brown Crowder and Knuckle Purple Hull provided 4797, 3137, and 3510 kg ha^-1 of seed yield, respectively. The overall mean yields of genotypes without bradyrhizobia and with bradyrhizobia were 2051 and 2351 kg/ha, respectively.