Cowpea Research Paper

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.Walp) is an annual legume that belongs to the Fabaceae family and is commonly known as southern pea, black-eyed pea, cowpea, alubia, caupi, tape or frijole. It is one of the most ancient human food sources and has been probably used as a crop plant since Neolithic times (Ng and Marechal, 1985). This crop was first introduced to India during the Neolithic period, and therefore India seems to be a secondary centre of genetic diversity (Pant et al., 1982). It is an important multipurpose grain legume extensively cultivated in arid and semiarid tropics. It is an important source of nutrients and provides high quality, inexpensive protein to diets based on cereal grains and starchy foods.

Cowpea is a good source of

Zinc is essential for the growth in animals, human beings, and plants it is vital to the crop nutrition as required in various enzymatic reactions, metabolic processes, and oxidation reduction reactions. In addition, Zn is also essential for many enzymes which are needed for nitrogen metabolism, energy transfer and protein synthesis. Its deficiency in agricultural crops is one of the most common micronutrient deficiencies (Gupta, 1989). Zinc deficient soils have been widely found in India, USA, Canada, New Zealand, Africa, Europe and South America (Pedersen, 1996). On the other hand, World Health Organization (WHO, 2002) reported that human population of developing countries faced the deficiency of Zn. Zinc deficiency is the fifth major cause of diseases and deaths in these

In general, soils of arid and semi arid regions and the slightly acidic, leached soils of warm and tropical climates are most inclined to be Zn deficient. The crops are not equally susceptible to Zn deficiency and on the same soil some crops may suffer from Zn deficiency while others are not affected. Major Zn deficiency causes include: (i) soils developed on parent material of low Zn content, (ii) soils with restricted root zones, (iii) pH, (iv) soils low in organic matter, (v) microbially inactived Zn, (vi) Cool soil temperature, (vii) susceptible plant species and genotypes (viii) high level of available phosphorus and (ix) excessive nitrogen supply (Takkar and Randhawa, 1978; Lindsay, 1972; Pendias and Pendias, 1992 and Alloway,