EVALUATION OF DIFFERENT ALECTRA VOGELII FROM

DIFFERENT SOURCES FOR HOST SPECIFICITY ON COWPEA LINES

BY
BLESSINGS JOHN KABWIRA

SUPERVISOR
PROFESSOR V.H. KABAMBE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 The scope of alectra problem in Malawi
1.2 Problem statement
1.3 Justification
2. OBJECTIVES
2.1Underlying objective
2.2 Specific objective
2.3 Hypothesis
3. MATERIALS AND METHODS
3.1 Experimental site
3.2 Experimental design
3.3 Data collection
3.4 Data analysis
4. DATA ANALYSIS
5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
6. CONCLUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION
INTRODUCTION
• Cowpea, (Vigna unguiculata) is an important food security crop for over 43
million people in sub-Saharan Africa (IITA, 2015).
• Rural families derive food and animal fodder (Tarawali et al., 1997; Asiwe,
2007) as well as cash from the production of this crop (Quin, 1997)
• It contains about 24% protein, 62% soluble carbohydrate and small amount
of other nutrients (Tarawali et al., 2002).
• The relatively high protein content (24%) makes cowpea a vital supplement
to the diet of many Africans who consume cereals, roots, and tubers which
have high carbohydrate and have low protein (Bressani, 1985).
• Of all the constraints limiting the production of cowpea, weed problem
appears to be the most deleterious resulting in various degrees of yield
losses ranging from 50-86%; (Akobundu, 1979; Le et al., 2004).
• Its growth and yield are heavily constrained by infestation of alectra vogelii
The scope of alectra problem in Malawi

• Alectra vogeii is an annual parasitic weed of the family Orobanche (Magani et

al., 2008)

• Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) is a major host for this weed but other legumes like
groundnuts (Arachis hypogaea. L.), soybean (Glycine max. (L) merri) common
bean (Phaseolous vulgaris) and other tropical legume have been found to be
infested by this parasitic weed of A. vogeii (Kureh et al., 2005).

• Most parts in Malawi including Lilongwe, Kasungu plains, Dowa and Blantyre
Shire highlands are known to be infected with A. vogelii (Mainjeni 1999,
Kabambe et al., 2005.,)
PROBLEM STATEMENT
• Most cowpea lines are prone to attack by the parasitic weed specie, Alectra vogelii
(Vigna subterranean (L.) Verd and it has been reported to be the cause of
considerable damage to cowpea, with substantial yield reductions

• There is at present paucity of information on the differential response of individual

Alectra Vogelii growth on different cowpea host varieties on growth and yield of
cowpea (host specificity).

• Identification and evaluation of genetic variation of A. vogelii based on host ranges

and geographical distribution of Alectra strains from different hot spot areas of the
country is a prerequisite for developing and dissemination of improved cowpea
varieties and seems to be a vibrant approach to subdue the adverse impacts of A.
vogelii on the cowpea lines.
JUSTIFICATION
• Geographic differences in the host range of A. vogelii and of virulence
on different cowpea genotypes are known to exist (Riches et al. 1992).
• The study helped in identifying relative susceptibility or resistance of
the cowpea lines to the different accessories of A. vogelii which is
vital to the dissemination, selection and breeding of improved lines
with resistance to Alectra in order to eliminate yield loses and
maintain optimal productivity.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
• Underlying objective
 Identification of differential responses of A. vogelii found in cowpeas and
groundnuts.

• Specific objective
 To check for any variation in the patterns of response of the cowpea lines to
parasite samples collected from different locations.
HYPOTHESIS

• H0: There is no differential response of individual A. vogelii growth on

different cowpea host varieties
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A. Experimental site
• Bunda College of Agriculture students’ research farm in the
screen house
• The experiment was conducted during the 2016/17 season.
• The farm is 1158m above the sea level at 14.18 0S and
33.760E, (Msarmo and Mhango, 2005).
• It has an annual mean temperature of about 25 0C
B. Experimental design

• The experiment was lain in a randomized block design which had three
replicates with eight treatments within each.
• Plastic pots were used with a top and bottom diameter of 19.5cm, 16cm
respectively and a depth of 24.5cm.
• Each pot was infested with single spatula of A. vogelii seeds, which is
equivalent to 500 seeds at 5cm depth.
• Two varieties were used in this experiment; Sudan (V1) and Mkakaufiti
(V2)
• The three different sources of A. vogelii were Bunda groundnut, Bunda
cowpea, Mchinji groundnut and Kasungu groundnut.
Table 1.0 Treatment description
Treatment Code
1 V1 Bunda G.
2 V2 Bunda G.
3 V1 Bunda C.
4 V2 Bunda C.
5 V1 Mchinji G.
6 V2 Mchinji G.
7 V1 Kasungu G.
8 V2 Kasungu G.
Description
Sudan with Bunda groundnut
accessory
Mkanakaufiti with Bunda
groundnut accessory
Sudan with Bunda cowpea
accessory
Mkakaufiti with Bunda cowpea
accessory
Sudan with Mchinji groundnut
accessory
Mkanakaufiti with Mchinji
groundnut accessory
Sudan with Kasungu groundnut
accessory
Mkanakaufiti with Kasungu
groundnut accessory
C. Data collection

The following data was collected;

• Alectra counts
• Alectra heights
• Alectra biomass
• Cowpea heights
• Pod weight
• Grain weight
• Weight of 100 seeds (g) and
• Harvest index (calculated).
DATA ANALYSIS AND EXPERIMENTAL MODEL

Data was analyzed using Genstat 15th edition statistical package as per
the statistical models below and means were separated using Turkey
test.
The statistical model below was use
= + + + ()ij +
Where = Kij observation associated with ith Alectra source and jth variety
= Overall mean
=Fixed effect of ith variety
= Fixed effect associated with jth variety
()ij= Interactive effects of ith Alectra source and jth variety
= Random error
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Table 2.0: Plant heights at different weeks after planting
Treatment 2WKS 4WKS 6WKS 8WKS
Sudan Bunda g/nut 9.52 14.47 31.10 36.37
Mkanakaufiti Bunda g/nut 14.22 16.05 32.72 44.88
Sudan Bunda cowpea 10.68 15.23 31.80 39.92
Mkanakaufiti Bunda cowpea 11.87 14.27 27.93 40.88
Sudan Mchinji g/nut 9.63 12.53 33.68 40.92
Mkanakaufiti Mchinji g/nut 12.58 15.00 27.88 40.45
Sudan Kasungu g/nut 9.08 12.48 31.38 41.60
Mkanakaufiti Kasungu g/nut 12.32 15.32 26.05 30.03
Grand Mean 11.24 14.42 30.30 43.00
LSD 0.05 Alectra source 2.301 2.634 8.58 10.01
Variety 1.627 1.863 6.07 7.08
Interaction 3.254 3.725 12.14 14.16

CV % 2.6 6.1 6.7 11.1

F-pro Alectra source NS NS NS NS
Variety 0.001 NS NS NS
Interaction NS NS NS NS
Table 3.0: Emerged alectra shoots weeks after planting
Treatment 6WAP 8WAP 10WAP 12WAP
Sudan Bunda g/nut 2.3333a 3.667a 10.000a 13.000a
Mkanakaufiti Bunda g/nut 0.0000b 0.0000b 0.0000b 0.0000b
Sudan Bunda cowpea 0.6667ab 1.333ab 8.776a 11.886a
Mkanakaufiti Bunda cowpea 0.0000b 0.0000b 0.0000b 0.0000b
Sudan Mchinji g/nut 1.667ab 2.333ab 9.000a 12.667a
Mkanakaufiti Mchinji g/nut 0.0000b 0.0000b 0.0000b 0.0000b
Sudan Kasungu g/nut 1.000ab 2.000ab 8.982a 12.305a
Mkanakaufiti Kasungu g/nut 0.000b 0.0000b 0.0000b 0.0000b
Grand Mean 0.71 2.33 4.0 5.3
LSD 0.05 Alectra source 0.961 3.315 6.69 7.72
Variety 0.648 2.898 4.80 5.46
Interaction 1.286 5.396 9.60 10.92

CV % 20.4 32.3 50.3 50.5

F-pro Alectra source NS NS NS NS
Variety <0.001 0.002 0.003 <0.001
interaction NS NS NS NS
Table 4.0: Cowpea yield and yield components
TREATMENT Pod Weight (g) Biomass (g) Grain yield/pot Harvest Index
Sudan Bunda g/nut 50.50 32.08 25.81 1.509
Mkanaufiti Bunda g/nut 44.61 33.33 33.11 1.132
Sudan Bunda cowpea 45.51 37.04 24.87 1.577
Mkanakaufiti Bunda cowpea 43.56 26.27 26.49 0.990
Sudan Mchinji g/nut 47.54 29.85 31.20 2.117
Mkanakaufiti Mchinji g/nut 53.32 29.46 35.69 2.091
Sudan Kasungu g/nut 40.64 28.61 43.49 1.696
Mkanakaufiti Kasungu g/nut 51.27 31.30 33.00 1.748
Grand Mean 55.9 25.5 32.0 1.74
LDS 0.05 Alectra source 19.67 20.01 15.04 1.132
Variety 13.91 14.15 10.63 0.800
Interaction 27.81 28.30 34.7 1.601

CV % 43.1 76.2 47.8 10.6

F-pro Alectra source NS NS NS NS
Variety 0.009 NS 0.033 NS
Interaction NS NS NS NS
Table 5.0: Grain yield response to different alectra vogelii sources
ALECTRA SOURCE GRAIN YIELD/ POT

BUNDA GROUNDNUT 28.5a

BUNDA COWPEA 25.7a

MCHINJI GROUNDNUT 38.9a

KASUNGU GROUNDNUT 34.7a

GRAND MEAN 32.0

CONCLUSSION
There is no strain specificity of Alectra vogelii on the cowpea lines
Mkanakaufiti variety was confirmed to be resistant to all parasite
samples while Sudan was susceptible to all isolates regardless of
whether the original host was groundnuts or cowpeas.
However, Sudan is considerably tolerant to Alectra vogelii infestation
RECOMMENDATION
• Mkanakaufiti which was consistently resistant to Alectra, with
corresponding higher grain yield is recommended for cultivation by
farmers in areas where A.vogelii samples were collected for optimal
production and to facilitate a reduction in accumulation of soil seed
bank of the parasitic weed.
• Further evaluation of the effect of A.vogelii, involving more
accessories can be conducted to determine wide geographical variation
in host specificity.