Growth characters of fodder cowpea varieties as influeced by soil moisture stress levels

A field experiment was conducted during January 2012 to March 2014. Five fodder cowpea varieties (V₁-UPC 618, V₂-UPC -622, V₃-Bundel Lobia-1, V₄ -COFC -8 and V₅-CO-5) were evaluated for their drought tolerance under four soil moisture stress levels (M₁-pre sowing irrigation + lifesaving irrigation, M₂-pre sowing irrigation + irrigation at IW/CPE ratio of 0.4, M₃-pre sowing irrigation + irrigation at IW/CPE ratio of 0.6 and M₄-pre sowing irrigation + irrigation at IW/CPE ratio of 0.8). The investigation was conducted as two separate experiments, one in open and other in shade. The experiments were laid out in split plot design with four replications. Observations on growth characters such as plant height, number of branches and leaf stem ratio were recorded. The results revealed that plant height and number of branches were maximum at irrigation at IW/CPE ratio of 0.8 both in open and shade. Among the varieties, COFC -8 recorded maximum plant height and number of branches at all irrigation levels in open and partial shade.