Use of Three Inoculation Methods in Screening Cowpea Genotypes for Resistance to Two Colletotrichum Species. S. A. Adebitan, Department of Agricultural Biology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. T. Ikotun, K. E. Dashiell, and S. R. Singh. Department of Agricultural Biology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria; and International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, PMB 5320, Ibadan, Nigeria. Plant Dis. 76:1025-1028. Accepted for publication 7 March 1992. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1992. DOI: 10.1094/PD-76-1025.

Twelve cowpea cultivars were screened for reactions to infection by Colletotrichum lindemuthianum and C. truncatum, causal agents of anthracnose and brown blotch diseases, respectively. Three different inoculation techniques were used: spraying a spore suspension on leaves of seedlings, injecting a spore suspension into stems, and wrapping wounded seedling stems with inoculum meal. Wrapping of wounded seedlings with inoculum meal of Colletotrichum spp. was the best method of inoculation because it produced optimal conditions for infection and disease development. Cowpea cultivars IT82E-60, IT81D-1137, and Vita-7 were susceptible to anthracnose, whereas TVx 3236, IT81D-994, and IT81D-975 were resistant. Cultivars IT82E-60, IT82D-699, and Ife brown were susceptible to brown blotch, whereas TVx 3236, Vita-7, and IT81D-1137 were resistant.