CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata, L Walp) is a leguminous crop indigenous to Africa and a dicotyledonous plant belonging to the family Fabaceae (Schippers, 2002). It can be grown as sole crop, but more often planted alongside crops such as sorghum, maize or millet (Agbogidi, 2010a). More than 5.4 million tonnes of cowpeas are produced worldwide, with Africa being the highest producer with nearly 5.3 million tonnes annually (IITA, 2010). Nigeria, as the largest producer and consumer of cowpea, accounts for 61 % of production in Africa and 58 % worldwide, out of which Nigeria produced 5.1 million tonnes under cultivation area of 3.59 million / ha (NAERLS & FDAE, 2013).
Cowpea is one of the oldest crops known to man and an important food legume because of its nutritional value to man and usefulness as fodder to livestock (Agbogidi, 2010b; Davis et al., 1991). Its ability to replenish soil nitrogen makes it important in the modern crop farming system in rotation with other crops (Langyintuo et al., 2003). Also, its drought tolerance, relatively early maturity and nitrogen fixation characteristics fit very well to the tropical (humid) soils where moisture, erosion and low soil fertility is the major limiting factor in crop production (Hall, 2004). It serves as food security and at the same time can be combined with other recipe (Muoneke et al. 2012).
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