Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-t5pn6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T00:13:51.476Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Growth and yield of determinate and indeterminate cowpeas in dryland agriculture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

G. S. Chaturvedi ,
P. K. Aggarwal  and
S. K. Sinha
G. S. Chaturvedi
Affiliation:
Water Technology Centre, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110012, India
P. K. Aggarwal
Affiliation:
Water Technology Centre, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110012, India
S. K. Sinha
Affiliation:
Water Technology Centre, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110012, India
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Cowpea is an important food legume crop of arid and semi-arid regions of the tropics. In such climates whether a determinate or indeterminate type of growth habit would be more useful is not clear. In the present study a determinate and indeterminate cultivar of cowpea were grown at two population densities under rainfed conditions for 2 years. Grain yield was higher in the indeterminate variety for both years. At higher density more dry matter was produced but it had no effect on grain yield. Nitrogen analysis showed that it moved from leaves to developing pods. However, a large amount of nitrogen was still left in vegetative parts in contrast to cereals. Pod development was completed in 19 days and the rate of dry-matter accumulation during the peak period of growth was as high as 120 mg/day per fruit. It was difficult for the plant to cope with this high demand for photosynthates. It is suggested that more pods can develop on a plant provided the growth rate of individual pods is slower and extended to a longer period.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 94 , Issue 1 , February 1980 , pp. 137 - 144
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1980

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Erskine, W. & Khan, T. N. (1976). Effects of spacing on oowpea genotypes in Papua New Guinea. Experimental Agriculture 12, 401–410.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, L. T. (1975). Crop Physiology. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hardy, R. W. F. & Havelka, U. D. (1975). Nitrogen fixation research: a key to world food? Science 188, 633–643.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Novozamsky, T., van Eck, J. R., van Schouwenburg, J. Ch. & Walingan, I. (1974). Total nitrogen determination in plant materials by means of indophenol blue method. Netherlands Journal of Agricultural Science 22, 3–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ojehomon, O. O. & Bamiduro, T. A. (1971). The effects of plant density and pattern of plant arrangement on oowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.]). Using parallel row systemic spacing design. Nigerian Agricultural Journal 8, 11–19.Google Scholar
Sinha, S. K. (1974). Yield of grain legumes. Problems and prospects. Indian Journal of Genetics and Plant Breeding 34A, 988–994.Google Scholar
Sinha, S. K. (1977). Food Legumes; Distribution, Adaptability and Biology of Yield. Rome: FAO.Google Scholar