Stability and Climate Resilience Potential of Fodder Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) Germplasm Across Diverse Environments
Abstract
Background: As global warming accelerates, developing climate-resilient crops is critical for agricultural sustainability. Amid increasing climatic disruptions, fodder cowpea, a drought-adapted legume, remains an essential nutritional security crop for livestock feed. Quantifying its phenotypic stability across heterogeneous environments would be fundamental for any breeding program capable of withstanding such intensifying climatic stresses. Methods: This study evaluated twenty-three fodder cowpea germplasm lines and three popular varieties across three environments differing in temperature, moisture and soil fertility. The focus was on three major traits namely, green fodder yield per plant (GFY), crude fiber content (CFB) and crude protein content (CPR). We analyzed Genotype-by-environment interaction (GEI) using two models, Additive Main Effects and Multiplicative Interaction (AMMI) for individual trait evaluation and Multi-Trait Stability Index (MTSI) for simultaneous evaluation of all the three traits. Result: Significant GEI observation highlighted the need for environment-specific genotypes. Combined AMMI 1 and AMMI 2 biplot analyses found genotypes such as FD 1067 (G10), K-13-CP42 (G14) and CO (FC) 8 (G24) to be broadly stable performers for GFY, CPR and CFB across environments, while genotypes like GETC 40 (G21), GETC 41 (G22) and GETC 49 (G23) showed specific adaptation. The environments (E1-E3) exhibited distinct discriminative capacities depending on the trait, highlighting the value of multi-environment trials for reliable genotype selection.