Cowpea yield under the influence of cropping system, location and nitrogen fertilization

Abstract

Yield production of cowpea depends largely on the environmental factors, cropping systems and soil type of the location. In this way, an experiment was conducted to investigate the interaction effect of cropping system, location, season and nitrogen fertilization on cowpea yield. The study comprised of three cropping systems (Maize-cowpea rotation, monocropping cowpea and intercropped cowpea), three locations (Potchefstroom, Taung, and Rustenburg, South Africa) and two rates of nitrogen fertilizers applied in kg ha -1 at each site (0 and 20 at Potchefstroom, 0 and 17 at Rustenburg, 0 and 23 at Taung). A factorial experiment randomized in complete block design with three replications was conducted during 2011/12 and 2012/13 planting seasons. The measured yield and yield components were pod length, seed per pod, pods mass at harvest, grain yield and field biomass yield. Cowpea planted on monocropping and rotational systems had significantly (P < 0.05) higher seed number per pod at harvest, grain yield and field biomass yield than cowpea planted on intercropping. The interaction of location x season plays a vital role on cowpea production by increasing yield. A single cultivar might differ significantly across different locations due to different soil types and climatic factors.

Drybean Yield under the Influence of Cultivar, Phosphorus Fertilizer Rate and Location

“…The higher grain yield of drybean at Taung could be attributed to the adequate amount of rainfall received here during the growth period as opposed to that received at the other locations. The different grain yield across locations in this study corroborated the findings by Sebetha and Modi (2016) who reported that cultivar might differ significantly across different locations due to different soil types and climatic factors. The amount of phosphorus fertilizer applied did not have any significant effect on the drybean grain yield.…”

The Effect of Plant Density, Zinc Added to Phosphorus Fertilizer Sources and Location on Selected Yield Parameters of Soybean

“…Soybean planted at Taung had a significantly higher field biomass yield of 3424.12 and 6113.81 kg/ha during the 2018/19 and 2019/20 planting seasons respectively. The higher field biomass yield at Taung could be attributed to the adaptability of soybean plants to Sebetha and Modi (2016) who reported higher cowpea biomass yield at that location due to better environmental factors such as rainfall and temperature during growing season. It was also reported by Khalil et al (2011), that soybean yield and yield components are significantly affected by temperature and relative humidity during the growing period.…”

Economics of Fodder and Seed Production of Important Leguminous Cowpea Crop

“…The production of cowpea depends largely on the environmental factors, cropping systems and soil type of the location (Sebetha and Modi, 2016). In general, it can provide 350 -420 quintals of green fodder and about 11-15 quintals of seed.…”