Influence of organic nutrient sources on growth, seed yield and economics of cowpea under mid hills of Arunachal Pradesh

Raising a good crop of cowpea with manures and suitable agricultural practices plays crucial in the hill agroecosystem of Arunachal Pradesh. Although the availability of diverse manures there is plenty yet these are not being properly utilized in management for realization of higher yield. Therefore, the present study was conducted during 2009 and 2010 at ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Arunachal Pradesh Centre, Basar to fine tune the effective organic source for cowpea. The experiment involving diverse organic manorial treatments viz., vermicompost @ 2.5 tonnes/ha, poultry manure @ 1.25 t/ha, swine manure @ 3.0 t/ha, cow dung manure @ 10.0 t/ha, farm yard manure @ 10.0 t/ha were tried for their efficacy under field condition. Higher growth, yield attributes and seed yield were recorded under vermicompost @ 2.5 t/ha followed by poultry manure @ 1.25 t/ha over those in control. SPAD value and solar radiation interception at middle and bottom of the crop canopy during 30 and 60 days after sowing were also higher in the treatments where vermicompost or poultry manure were applied. Seed quality parameters viz., protein, fibre content, self life and palatability, and economics were also favoured following vermicompost application.