Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata [L.] Walp.) genotypes response to multiple abiotic stresses

The carbon dioxide concentration [CO2], temperature and ultraviolet B radiation (UVB) are concomitant factors projected to change in the future environment, and their possible interactions are of significant interest to agriculture. The objectives of this study were to evaluate interactive effects of atmospheric [CO2], temperature, and UVB radiation on growth, physiology and reproduction of cowpea genotypes and to identify genotypic tolerance to multiple stressors. Six cowpea (Vigna unguiculata [L.] Walp.) genotypes differing in their sites of origin were grown in sunlit, controlled environment chambers. The treatments consisted of two levels each of atmospheric [CO2] (360 and 720 μmol mol−1), UVB [0 and 10 kJ m−2 d−1) and temperatures [30/22 and 38/30 °C] from 8 days after emergence to maturity. The ameliorative effects of elevated [CO2] on increased UVB radiation and temperature effects were observed for most of the vegetative and photosynthetic traits but not for pollen production, pollen viability and yield attributes. The combined stress response index (C-TSRI) derived from vegetative (V-TSRI) and reproductive (R-TSRI) parameters revealed that the genotypes responded negatively with varying magnitude of responses to the stressors. Additionally, in response to multiple abiotic stresses, the vegetative traits diverged from that of reproductive traits, as deduced from the positive V-TSRI and negative R-TSRI observed in most of the genotypes and poor correlation between these two processes. The UVB in combination with increased temperature caused the greatest damage to cowpea vegetative growth and reproductive potential. The damaging effects of high temperature on seed yield was not ameliorated by elevated [CO2]. The identified tolerant genotypes and groups of plant attributes could be used to develop genotypes with multiple abiotic stress tolerance.