REVIEW article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Breeding
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1562142
Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) Production, Genetic Resources and Strategic Breeding Priorities for Sustainable Food Security: A Review
Provisionally accepted
- 1Jeollanamdo Agricultural Research and Extension Services, Naju, Republic of Korea
- 2Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Accra, Ghana
- 3Rural Development Administration (South Korea), Jeonju, Republic of Korea
- 4Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Gwangju, Republic of Korea
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Cowpea is one of the most important staple crops, known for its role in promoting food security and agricultural sustainability. The crop has a multifaceted use, including food, feed, and soil fertility management. It is a staple food, especially in Africa and parts of Asia and the Americas, where it is valued for its rich nutritional content. Though cowpea is a climate resilient legume, the extent of its environmental adaptability and its utility value vary considerably across different production regions. Each region has unique conditions, including varying climates, soil types, and pest pressures. Given this versatile and diverse nature of cultivation environments, different varieties are needed to address all regional challenges. Breeding efforts often prioritize producing a range of varieties with different plant types, growth habits, and maturity periods in order to maximize yields and enhance environmental resilience, while also addressing region-specific needs. Meanwhile, genetic diversity among crop resources is essential for effective breeding, as targeted strategic breeding can significantly improve crop productivity, enhance market value, and better meet consumer preferences. With the aim to further strengthen research efforts in cowpea breeding for increased yield productivity for food security, this review examined recent global cowpea production, state of germplasm resources conservation and breeding priorities across different regions. Based on the current knowledge, further progress is required in addressing specific regional challenges, such as enhancing pest resistance, drought tolerance, and nutritional quality to ensure continued contribution of cowpea to global food security and agricultural sustainability.
Keywords: cowpea, Breeding, Food security, resilience, Varieties
Received: 17 Jan 2025; Accepted: 23 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kim, Ochar, Iwar, Ha and Kim. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Seong-Hoon Kim, Rural Development Administration (South Korea), Jeonju, Republic of Korea
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