Abstract:
Cowpea (Viga unguiculata L. Walp), the third most important legume food crop in Uganda
is faced with a lot of challenges, paramount among them being scab disease. Mean yield is
less than 400 kg/ha though the crop has a yield potential of 3,000 kg/ha. The cowpea scab
disease caused by the fungus Sphaceloma sp., is seed-borne and is capable of causing yield
losses of up to 100% as the disease affects all the above ground parts of the cowpea plant.
There is currently a resurgence of the disease in the country leading to significant yield
losses in farmers’ fields, yet none of the five improved cowpea cultivars recently released in
the country is resistant to the disease. The use of resistant cultivars in disease management
is the most practical approach, easily adopted and more environmentally friendly. A better
understanding of the distribution of the disease in the country, identification of sources of
resistance; knowing how variable the pathogen is, and, understanding the gene action
conditioning resistance to the disease, yield and yield related traits in the crop plant are
fundamental to developing resistant cowpea cultivars to manage the disease. This paper
reviews information on these important facets to explore the possibility of developing cowpea
cultivars with resistance to the scab fungus in Uganda. The literature suggests that breeding
for resistance to the cowpea scab disease and high yield can be achieved using Ugandan
landraces as source of genes
