Journal of Agricultural Science; Vol. 12, No. 4; 2020 ISSN 1916-9752 E-ISSN 1916-9760 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education 239 Biometry of Seeds of Caupi Beans Cream Varieties Cultivated in Northeast Brazil Neurivan Vicente da Silva 1 , Paulo César Ferreira Linhares 2 , Roberto Pequeno de Sousa 2 , Janilson Pinheiro de Assis 2 , Eudes de Almeida Cardoso 2 , Joaquim Odilon Pereira 3 , Walter Rodrigues Martins 3 , Lunara de Sousa Alves 2 , Mateus de Freitas Almeida dos Santos 2 , Glenda Soares de Lira Rosado Nogueira 2 & Jordany Ramalho Silveira Farias 3 1 Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, Pombal, PB, Brazil 2 Jitirana Research Group, Department of Agronomic and Forestry Sciences, Federal Rural Semi-Arid University, Mossoró, RN, Brazil 3 Center of Exact and Natural Sciences, Federal Rural Semi-Arid University, Mossoró, RN, Brazil Correspondence: Paulo César Ferreira Linhares, Jitirana Research Group, Department of Agronomic and Forestry Sciences, Federal Rural Semi-Arid University, Mossoró, RN, Brazil. E-mail: paulolinhares@ufersa.edu.br Received: June 1, 2019 Accepted: February 6, 2020 Online Published: March 15, 2020 doi:10.5539/jas.v12n4p239 URL: https://doi.org/10.5539/jas.v12n4p239 Abstract Biometric analysis is of great importance for the evaluation of the characteristics of the seeds, being used to predict the physiological aspect. In this context, the objective was to study the biometry of seeds of cowpea bean varieties cultivated by family farmers in the Brazilian Northeast. The work was carried out from April to July 2018, consisting of the harvesting of cowpea bean seeds in the agroecological production area, of the region of Apodi, Northeast Brazil. A completely randomized design with six treatments (owl, canapum, lizão, always green, cow’s rib plus cultivar BRS potiguar) and six replicates of 100 seeds was used. A completely randomized design with six treatments and six replicates of 100 seeds was used. The evaluated characteristics were: length and width of seeds, expressed in mm; length/width ratio of seeds, expressed in mm; weight of one hundred seeds, expressed in g; weight of one thousand seeds, expressed in grams and quantity of seeds per kg, expressed in units kg -1 . There was a statistical difference between the varieties of cowpea for the biometric characteristics studied. The cowpea variety was statistically superior to the others, for the characteristics, seed length (11.37 mm), length (2.14 mm) length ratio, weight of one hundred seeds (31.16 g) and weight of one thousand seeds (312.46 g). The BRS potiguar variety was statistically superior to the characteristic number of seeds per kilo (5099.16 units kg -1 ). Keywords: biometric analysis, length/width, weight seeds, varieties of cowpea beans 1. Introduction Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) is a staple in the Brazilian diet. It is of great importance, because it is an affordable source of proteins, with a high energy value. In low-income populations, it exerts a social function to meet the nutritional needs of this part of the population (Locatelli et al., 2014). It has center of origin the African continent, being introduced in Brazil in the middle of century XVI, in the state of Bahia, expanding to the other regions of the country (Embrapa Meio-Norte, 2018). In the Rio Grande do Norte, Northeast of Brazil, the average productivity is 171 kg ha -1 (CONAB, 2016), low values due to the edaphoclimatic conditions of the region (Almeida, 2016). The use of seeds of high physiological quality is a factor of relevance, since these are contained innovations and technological advances, which adds value to the product transferred to the farmer, representing strong economic gains to the agricultural sector (Brazil, 2011). In this context, the study of seed biometry is of paramount importance for the determination of physiological quality, being used in the multiplication of different plant species (Alves et al., 2005). According to Marcos Filho (2005), the seed has attributes of great importance as biological organism and agricultural input. It leads the genetic characteristics determining the performance of the cultivar, being responsible for establishing the desired stand, providing the basis for profitable production (Marcos Filho, 2005).