Cowpeas (Southernpea)

Southernpea (Vigna unguiculata), also referred to as common cowpea, crowder pea, black-eyed pea, and field pea, is a warm-season annual. The highly nutritious seed is grown for fresh, processed and dried uses. Interestingly, southernpeas are not a pea at all, but a type of bean related to the yardlong bean and marble pea. This profile will discuss only its production as a vegetable crop, but southernpea is also an excellent cover crop for suppressing weeds, fixing nitrogen, and attracting beneficial insects, though it can also attract nuisance deer to your crops. It can also be used as livestock feed.  

Marketing

Southernpeas are sold fresh, dried or processed. Fresh immature seed and pods are generally eaten cooked. Fresh market options include farmers markets, consumer supported agriculture (CSA) subscriptions, produce auctions and roadside stands. Offering point-of-sale promotions, like recipes and preparation suggestions, can help increase interest among customers unfamiliar with southernpeas. Sales to locally owned retail grocery markets may be an additional option. Dried products can be sold already shelled or in the pod for consumers to shell. Value-added products include soup and bean mixes.

Production

Cultivars are generally identified according to such characteristics as pod (hull) color (green to silvery to purple), pod length, “eye” color (no color to pink to maroon to black), seed color (cream, buff, brown, red, black, spotted or speckled), and seed spacing within the pod (crowder, semi-crowder and non-crowder). Growth habit can be vining, semi-vining or bush.  Select marketable cultivars that are well-adapted to local growing conditions.