Water deficit is one of the most important factors that affect plant growth and development. To assess the effect of water stress on growth of two cowpea accessions (i.e. UCC 321 and GH 4769), a field study was conducted at the experimental site of CSIR-Plant Genetic Resources Research Institute, Bunso, Eastern Region-Ghana during the minor season. The treatments comprised of non-watered and well-watered cowpea plants for thirty-two days. The experiment was a 2 x 2 factorial replicated three times in a randomised complete block design. Growth was determined by measuring plant height, number of leaves per plant and plant dry mass (i.e. leaf, stem, root and total plant). Water stress reduced plant height, number of leaves and plant dry mass. Dry-mass accumulation in above-ground plant organs was lower in non-watered plants than in the well-watered treatment. This indicated that irrigation was necessary to optimize cowpea production, and that a deficit in irrigation might affect plant growth as soil becomes dry.
The use of cover crops is a way of sustainable agriculture in which nutrients are recycled and the use of inorganic fertilizer is reduced. Leguminous cover crops for instance are known to enrich the soil through the fixing of nitrogen in the form of nitrates in the soil for plant use. The objective of the study was to determine the effect of some leguminous cover crops on growth and yield of garden eggs. The study consisted of five treatments, namely Bare ground (control), fertilizer (NPK 15:15:15), Mucuna pruriens, Glycine max and Phaseolus lunatus laid in a randomized complete block design with 3 replicates. Data collected were on vegetative growth and yield parameters. Results showed that plant height of garden eggs was highest in Phaseolus treated plots and this was followed by the Glycine max plots. Phaseolus treated plots had the highest yield in terms of the number of fruits harvested and weight of fruits harvested.
Production of high quality seeds depends upon the appropriate time of harvest. In this study, variation in physiological seed quality in relation to maturity stage was assessed in two pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) cultivars (Legon 18 and BAG 14/001) which have different fruit shapes and sizes. Fruits were harvested at four maturity stages (i.e. initially ripe, half ripe, fully ripe and rotten) and seeds extracted after each harvest. Seed quality was assessed by 100-seed weight, seed vigour and germination percentage. The results showed that the seeds extracted at the initially ripe stage had the lowest 100-seed weight in both cultivars. Whereas, seeds extracted at the fully ripe and rotten stages gave higher vigour and germination percentage than those harvested at the initial and half ripe stage in both cultivars. Also, the seeds extracted from Legon 18 had higher viability than BAG 14/001 at all maturity stages.
Antigen-coated plate enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ACP-ELISA) and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were used to detect the presence and seed transmissibility of bean common mosaic virus-blackeye cowpea mosaic (BCMV-BICM) in farm- retained cowpea seed lots obtained from 46 locations, including markets and farms in major cowpea growing areas in the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions of Ghana. In the growout tests, virus symptomatic plants were observed in seedlings of 19 of the 46 seed lots tested under insect-proof screen-house conditions. All the symptomatic plants tested positive to polyclonal antiserum raised against BCMV-BICM in ACP-ELISA. The seed transmission rates based on symptoms ranged from 0 to 37.8 %. RT-PCR with primer pair designed to amplify the potyvirus Cylindrical Inclusion (CI) region resulted in an expected 720 bp DNA segment in 19 seed lots as a further confirmation of virus in the seed lots. The remaining 27 lots were asymptomatic and tested negative to BCMV-BlCM in both ACP-ELISA and RTPCR. The findings of this study revealed seed as the source of primary inoculum in the farmers’ fields and may aid in the implementation of control strategies such as discouraging farmers from retaining their own seeds for subsequent sowing and encouraging them to take appropriate measures in obtaining virus-free cowpea seeds from other sources.
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