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Cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] is one among the premier pulse crops grown across the world as vegetable, fodder and for seed purpose. Inspite of the various economic and nutritional benefits of cowpea, its full yield potential is hardly ever realized due to the interaction of several factors, of which bruchid infestation is considered to be very important. In this context, 15 cowpea genotypes were screened to document their varietal reaction. Upon categorising the genotypes, none of the test accessions were found highly resistant. The accessions which recorded the least per cent damages at 90 DAR, i.e., GC-3, IC 202702, IC 259065 and DC-15 fell into the grade moderately resistant (MR) to Callosobruchus chinensis (L.) in storage. The genotypes IC 6202, IC 998326, IC 259106 and IC 91556 were registered as least susceptible (LS) genotypes. The genotypes IC 219871, IC 198383, IC 253272, IC219594 and DCS 47-1 were categorised as moderately susceptible (MS) whereas IC 253276 and IC 257407 fell into the pest reaction grade of highly susceptible (HS). There was a negative and significant correlation between per cent damage and phenol content of the seeds whereas the moisture and protein of seeds were positively correlated with per cent damage at 90 days after release. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] is one among the chief pulse crops grown around the globe. As a pulse crop, it fits well into most of the cropping systems. i.e., as sole crop, mixed crop, intercrop and in agro-forestry combinations. Among the different factors that detains cowpea from realizing its full yield potential, the infestation of the bruchid, Callosobruchus chinensis (L.) assumes much importance. In this background, 15 cowpea genotypes were tested for their oviposition preference and it was correlated with the seed morphological characters. The mean number of eggs laid per 20 seeds on different cowpea entries varied from 9.00 to 19.00. The genotype IC 253272 received the highest number of eggs (19.00) which was on par with the entries IC 253276 and IC 998326, which recorded 18.50 and 17.50 eggs, respectively. On the other hand, the genotypes GC-3 and IC 91556 received the least number of eggs (9.00 each) which were on par with genotypes IC 259065 (10.00 eggs) and IC 202702 (10.50 eggs).The selected genotypes varied in terms of their seed size, colour and shape.A positive and non-significant correlation was observed between oviposition preference and seed size; while there was a negative and non-significant correlation in terms of seed colour and seed shape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]