Effects Of Intercropping Cowpeas With Maize And Phosphorous Levels On Growth And Yields Of Cowpeas In Meru County

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ABSTRACT

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) is a legume that is grown for various uses. It is consumed as grain, leaf for humans and as fodder by livestock with high nutritive value and high palatability. It is widely produced in sub-Saharan Africa as a source of income. It is drought tolerant and can suitably be used as an intercrop in an intercropping system. The attendant low yield of cowpea among smallholder farmers due to declining soil fertility has increased the need for site specific fertilizer recommendation. Land fragmentation and reduced arable land makes intercropping of cereals and legumes inevitable. A field experiment was conducted at Kianjai ward in Tigania West Sub County of Meru County during the March –May rain season of 2015 to investigate the effects of intercropping cowpeas with maize and four different levels of phosphorous on growth and yields of cowpeas. The treatments were sole cowpeas, sole maize, sole cowpeas planted with (0 kg/ha, 25 kg/ha, 50 kg/ha and 75 kg/ha SSP) and cowpeas intercropped with maize at (0 kg/ha, 25 kg/ha, 50 kg/ha and 75 kg /ha SSP).The design of the experiment was a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replicates. The experiment was monitored from March to July. The results show that plant heights at harvesting stage were significantly affected by both fertilizer levels and cropping system (p0.05). The number of grains per pod were not significantly affected by cropping system (p>0.05) but were significantly affected by fertilizer level (p

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