Genetic divergence in cowpea genotypes with upright growth and early cycle

The objective of this study was to group cowpea genotypes with upright growth and early maturity using multivariate techniques to estimate the relative contribution of the response variables to genetic divergence studied. Twenty-eight lines of the Genbank of the Universidade Federal do Ceara and Embrapa Meio Norte were used. For the analysis of genetic divergence the canonical variables, Mahalanobis' distance and the Tocher cluster method were used. Most of the maximum distances were observed when combined with CE-46 genotypes. The crosses between the groups VIII and XI and groups VII and VIII may result in new gene combinations. The variables beginning of flowering and crop cycle contributed most to the genetic divergence among the genotypes.