DIFFERENTIAL BENTAZON RESPONSE IN COWPEA (VIGNA-UNGUICULATA)

The U. S. Plant Introduction Collection of cowpea germplasm and a coll ection of cowpea cultivars were evaluated for bentazon tolerance in th e field. Most accessions were intermediate in bentazon tolerance; howe ver, several highly tolerant and highly susceptible accessions were id entified. Tolerant and susceptible selections from the field experimen t were evaluated in greenhouse experiments. The most susceptible selec tions were killed or severely injured by bentazon at 2 kg ae ha-1; the most tolerant selections were not severely injured by bentazon at 16 kg ha-1.