{"id":12998,"date":"2026-06-20T12:26:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/researchers-closer-to-developing-tools-that-will-fast-track-cowpea-breeding\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T12:26:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:26:08","slug":"researchers-closer-to-developing-tools-that-will-fast-track-cowpea-breeding","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/researchers-closer-to-developing-tools-that-will-fast-track-cowpea-breeding\/","title":{"rendered":"Researchers closer to developing tools that will fast-track cowpea breeding"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Scientists at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)  and partners in the Netherl ands  and the United States are a step closer to developing genomic approaches\/tools that will expedite the conventional development of improved cowpea (<em>Vigna unguiculata<\/em> L) varieties with traits such as drought-tolerance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An IITA-Lukas Brader Postgraduate Fellow, Eugene Agbicodo, who carried out the genetic analysis of drought-tolerance in cowpea  and subsequently constructed a linkage map of the crop, identified portions on the cowpea genome where genes that have effects on drought-tolerance  and resistance to bacterial blight could be located.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His findings have been hailed by breeders as a l andmark in marker-assisted selection in cowpea breeding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Similar work has been reported by researchers at the University of California, Riverside,  and researchers at the two institutions are comparing notes on the outcomes of their research to see areas of agreement  and possible collaboration, according to Christian Fatokun, Cowpea Breeder, who supervised the Agbicodo&#8217;s genomic mapping work at IITA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf both parties are able to find areas of agreement or concurrence, such areas of the genome would be of immense benefit when marker assisted selection is to be applied in cowpea breeding. So what will normally take about 10 years to accomplish could be done in three years or even less,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With about 70 per cent of world cowpea grown in the savannah region of Africa, the protein-rich legume provides not only incomes but also improves the health of its consumers. However, cowpea faces several production constraints among which are diseases, insect pests, parasitic weeds such as <em>Striga<\/em>,  and drought which is becoming increasingly important in the cowpea producing zones of sub-Saharan Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Agbicodo phenotyped  and genotyped a set of cowpea recombinant inbred lines generated at IITA&#8217;s Ibadan station. Phenotyping was carried out in Ibadan  and Kano while the genotyping was carried out at the University of Wageningen, The Netherl ands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Consequently, he constructed a cowpea genetic linkage map using the data obtained from genotyping  and phenotyping. The linkage map showed molecular markers that defined quantitative trait loci (QTLs) with effects on drought-tolerance  and resistance to bacterial blight among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Lukas Brader Fellow will present his work during the 5th World Cowpea Research Conference to be held on 27 September &#8211; 1 October 2010 in Dakar, Senegal. IITA is the lead organizer of this international cowpea confab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fatokun described the work as a milestone as scientists seek ways to fast track cowpea improvement. He said that he feels happy that technologies to quicken plant breeding are being developed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">###<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pour plus d'informations, veuillez contacter :<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Christian Fatokun, <a>c.fatokun@cgiar.org<\/a><br>S\u00e9lectionneur de ni\u00e9b\u00e9<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeffrey T. Oliver, <a>o.jeffrey@cgiar.org<\/a><br>Charg\u00e9 de communication d'entreprise (international)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Godwin Atser, <a>g.atser@cgiar.org<\/a><br>Charg\u00e9 de la communication d'entreprise (Afrique de l'Ouest)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bureau de la communication<br>IITA \u2013 Si\u00e8ge<br>Ibadan, Nig\u00e9ria<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">URL : <a href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/\">www.iita.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>\u00c0 propos de l'IITA<\/b><br>L'Afrique est confront\u00e9e \u00e0 des probl\u00e8mes complexes qui minent l'agriculture et la vie des populations. Nous d\u00e9veloppons des solutions agricoles avec nos partenaires pour lutter contre la faim et la pauvret\u00e9. Nos recherches pour le d\u00e9veloppement (R4D), maintes fois r\u00e9compens\u00e9es, reposent sur une r\u00e9flexion cibl\u00e9e et autoris\u00e9e, ancr\u00e9e dans les besoins de d\u00e9veloppement de l'Afrique subsaharienne. Nous travaillons avec des partenaires en Afrique et au-del\u00e0 pour r\u00e9duire les risques pour les producteurs et les consommateurs, am\u00e9liorer la qualit\u00e9 et la productivit\u00e9 des cultures, et g\u00e9n\u00e9rer de la richesse gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 l'agriculture. L'IITA est une organisation internationale de R4D \u00e0 but non lucratif cr\u00e9\u00e9e en 1967, dirig\u00e9e par un Conseil d'administration et soutenue principalement par le CGIAR.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scientists at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and partners in the Netherlands and the United States are a step closer to developing genomic approaches\/tools that will expedite the conventional development of improved cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L) varieties with traits such as drought-tolerance&#8230;<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":12953,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[],"science-area":[],"program":[],"location":[],"news-type":[],"hub":[],"crop":[67],"impact-areas":[],"item-year":[188],"class_list":["post-12998","news-item","type-news-item","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","crop-cowpea","item-year-188"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Researchers closer to developing tools that will fast-track cowpea breeding - IITA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/researchers-closer-to-developing-tools-that-will-fast-track-cowpea-breeding\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Researchers closer to developing tools that will fast-track cowpea breeding - IITA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Scientists at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and partners in the Netherlands and the United States are a step closer to developing genomic approaches\/tools that will expedite the conventional development of improved cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L) varieties with traits such as drought-tolerance...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/researchers-closer-to-developing-tools-that-will-fast-track-cowpea-breeding\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IITA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IITA.CGIAR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1024_Cowpea_opt.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"679\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@IITA_CGIAR\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Dur\u00e9e de lecture estim\u00e9e\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/researchers-closer-to-developing-tools-that-will-fast-track-cowpea-breeding\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/researchers-closer-to-developing-tools-that-will-fast-track-cowpea-breeding\\\/\",\"name\":\"Researchers closer to developing tools that will fast-track cowpea breeding - IITA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/researchers-closer-to-developing-tools-that-will-fast-track-cowpea-breeding\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/researchers-closer-to-developing-tools-that-will-fast-track-cowpea-breeding\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1024_Cowpea_opt.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-20T12:26:08+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/researchers-closer-to-developing-tools-that-will-fast-track-cowpea-breeding\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/researchers-closer-to-developing-tools-that-will-fast-track-cowpea-breeding\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/researchers-closer-to-developing-tools-that-will-fast-track-cowpea-breeding\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1024_Cowpea_opt.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1024_Cowpea_opt.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":679},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/researchers-closer-to-developing-tools-that-will-fast-track-cowpea-breeding\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Researchers closer to developing tools that will fast-track cowpea breeding\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"IITA\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"International Institute of Tropical Agriculture\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/IITA-Logo-finalll.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/IITA-Logo-finalll.png\",\"width\":1788,\"height\":591,\"caption\":\"International Institute of Tropical Agriculture\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/IITA.CGIAR\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/IITA_CGIAR\",\"http:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/iita\",\"http:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/IITAPUBLISHING\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Researchers closer to developing tools that will fast-track cowpea breeding - IITA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/researchers-closer-to-developing-tools-that-will-fast-track-cowpea-breeding\/","og_locale":"fr_FR","og_type":"article","og_title":"Researchers closer to developing tools that will fast-track cowpea breeding - IITA","og_description":"Scientists at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and partners in the Netherlands and the United States are a step closer to developing genomic approaches\/tools that will expedite the conventional development of improved cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L) varieties with traits such as drought-tolerance...","og_url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/researchers-closer-to-developing-tools-that-will-fast-track-cowpea-breeding\/","og_site_name":"IITA","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IITA.CGIAR","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":679,"url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1024_Cowpea_opt.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@IITA_CGIAR","twitter_misc":{"Dur\u00e9e de lecture estim\u00e9e":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/researchers-closer-to-developing-tools-that-will-fast-track-cowpea-breeding\/","url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/researchers-closer-to-developing-tools-that-will-fast-track-cowpea-breeding\/","name":"Researchers closer to developing tools that will fast-track cowpea breeding - IITA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/researchers-closer-to-developing-tools-that-will-fast-track-cowpea-breeding\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/researchers-closer-to-developing-tools-that-will-fast-track-cowpea-breeding\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1024_Cowpea_opt.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-20T12:26:08+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/researchers-closer-to-developing-tools-that-will-fast-track-cowpea-breeding\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"fr-FR","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/researchers-closer-to-developing-tools-that-will-fast-track-cowpea-breeding\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-FR","@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/researchers-closer-to-developing-tools-that-will-fast-track-cowpea-breeding\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1024_Cowpea_opt.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1024_Cowpea_opt.jpg","width":1024,"height":679},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/researchers-closer-to-developing-tools-that-will-fast-track-cowpea-breeding\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/iita.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Researchers closer to developing tools that will fast-track cowpea breeding"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/","name":"IITA","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/iita.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"fr-FR"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/#organization","name":"Institut International d'Agriculture Tropicale","url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-FR","@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/IITA-Logo-finalll.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/IITA-Logo-finalll.png","width":1788,"height":591,"caption":"International Institute of Tropical Agriculture"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IITA.CGIAR","https:\/\/x.com\/IITA_CGIAR","http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/iita","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/IITAPUBLISHING"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/12998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news-item"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/12998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12998"},{"taxonomy":"science-area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/science-area?post=12998"},{"taxonomy":"program","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program?post=12998"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=12998"},{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=12998"},{"taxonomy":"hub","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hub?post=12998"},{"taxonomy":"crop","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/crop?post=12998"},{"taxonomy":"impact-areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/impact-areas?post=12998"},{"taxonomy":"item-year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/item-year?post=12998"}],"curies":[{"name":"bien jou\u00e9","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}