Response of Cowpea To Different Soil Moisture Regimes and Phosphate Levels

The paper presents the results of a 2-year study conducted at the Haryana Agricultural University, Hissar, to investigate the effects of three irrigation regimes (25, 50 and 75 per cent A.S.M.) and four levels of phosphate (0, 30, 60 and 90 kg P₂O₅/ha), on the cowpea production.

Both years maximum forage production occurred under the high soil moisture regime and the irrigation effects were also significant in one of the two seasons. A significant difference in grain yield, however, was not found in relation to changes in the soil moisture.

The forage production also increased with the increasing levels of phosphate and the differences between any two doses were usually significant. The optimum dose of fertilizer during 1969 worked out to 88 kg P₂O₅/ha. Phosphate, however, did not have any consistent effect of the production of cowpea grain.