Biotech Updates

New Promising Cowpea Varieties for Africa and Rest of the World

April 17, 2013

Texas A&M University and the Buffett Foundation worked on a research project to develop new cowpea varieties that would contribute to food production in tropical and subtropical countries of the world. The new cowpea varieties were tested at the Nature Conservation Trust Ukulima Farm in South Africa, and also in College Station and Beeville in Texas. These varieties were developed in the last five years from crosses of the best cowpea lines from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Texas A&M.

The new stress-resilient cowpea varieties combine extra-early maturity, high protein, and high yield potential with resistance to major diseases and aphids, and high levels of heat and drought tolerance.

Read more about this at http://today.agrilife.org/2013/04/10/new-cowpea-varieties-offer-promise-in-south-africa-other-parts-of-the-world/.