Striga gesnerioides (Willd) Vatke is a major biological constraint to cowpea productivity in the dl)
savannas of sub-Saharan Africa. Over the last two decades, the use of molecular markers in crop improvemem
has gained prominence owing to its ability to sh0l1en the breeding cycle. The available molecular markel
techniques are being improved upon and continuously tested for higher preci sion, shOl1er duration of application
and better cost effectiveness. [n the present study, a total of four molecular markers developed for selecting
Slriga resistant cowpea were used to genotype F2 population derived from a cross between Borno Brown and
[T97K-499-35 to identify markers more close ly linked to S. gesnerioides resistance. SSRI and 2 were found 10
be tight ly linked to Striga gesnerioides with a genetic distance of 1 and 2cM.The selection efficiency of SS~I
and SSR-2 were 99 and 98 % and was better than that of C42-B 85.5%