Effect of Primextra and Intercropping on the Performance of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) in a Cowpea/Maize Intercrop

Effective and efficient chemical weed control in intercropping systems involving legumes and cereals had remained problematic in the tropics especially in Nigeria. As a step towards solving this problem, field experiments were conducted at the teaching, and research farm of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria to evaluate the performance of cowpea in a cowpea/maize intercropping system using primextra 500FW as a pre-emergence herbicide. The experimental design was a split plot fitted into a randomized complete block with three replications. The major treatments were hoe weeding and chemical weed control using primextra while the minor treatments were sole cropped maize, sole cropped cowpea and cowpea/maize intercropped. Results show that there was no significant (P = 0.05) effect of weed control methods on the growth and yield performances of cowpea. Expectedly, primextra was more efficient in weed control than hoe weeding across the treatments. Farming system affected significantly (P = 0.05) the performances in sole cropped cowpea regardless of the weed control method. Cowpea yield from intercropping were only 51% and 58% of yield from pure stand cowpea treated with primextra and hoe weeding respectively.