The objective of this study was to evaluate the agronomic performance and genetic divergence among genotypes of cowpea in the Cerrado/Pantanal ecotone region. The experiment was conducted in 2008 in the experimental area of the State University of Mato Grosso do Sul, University Unit of Aquidauana (UEMS/UUA). Treatments consisted of 20 genotypes of cowpea arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Was evaluated the following characters: beginning of the flowering, beginning of the maturation, mass of five pods, grain mass of five pods, grain index, mass of 100 grains and grain yield. The genetic divergence between treatments was determined based on the clustering analysis and the canonical variables. The genotype BRS-17 Gurguéia showed higher grain yield. Hybrids with high heterotic effect will be obtained from crosses of Pingo-de-ouro-2 strain with BRS 17-Gurguéia and BRS-Paraguassu cultivars.
agronomic characters; dissimilarity; genetic variability; Vigna unguiculata
