Genomics-Enabled Breeding for Sustainable Management of Pests and Diseases in Cowpea

This chapter discusses important pests and diseases of the cowpea, economic losses caused by them, and status of resistance sources being developed. Employing advanced breeding techniques for genomic designing of cowpea to induce resistance against various biotic stresses for improving the cowpea productivity. Further, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic approach applications in characterization of trait and developing resistance genotypes deliberated in detail. Besides, transformation and regeneration methods for cowpea, including the significant achievements of transgenic Bt cowpea and the CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing, have discussed. Overall, the recent findings suggest that leveraging genomic tools alongside conventional breeding can potentially surpass current yield barriers and reduce loss from pests, diseases, and abiotic stresses, paving the way for a more resilient cowpea supply in the agroecologies of the tropics.