Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-01T13:54:12.390Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effect of plant population density on dry matter partitioning and yield in a short-duration cultivar of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) grown in the tropics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

P. Q. Craufurd
P. Q. Craufurd
Affiliation:
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Kano Station, Sabo Bakin Zuwo Road, PMB 3112, Kano, Nigeria
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

An erect, 60-day cultivar of cowpea, IT84S–2246, was grown with adequate soil moisture at two locations in Nigeria in 1990/91, Ibadan (7° N) and Kano (12° N), contrasting in total incident radiation (Q) and at plant population densities of 1·9–7·7 and 5·4–16·3 plants/m2, respectively. Leaf area, radiation interception and dry matter (DM) accumulation and partitioning were measured. Total shoot and seed dry weights were greater at Kano (mean 4·10 and 1·61 t/ha, respectively) than at Ibadan (mean 1·89 and 0·68 t/ha, respectively), and greater athigher plant densities. Relationships between the reciprocal of total shoot (Wt) and seed dry weight (Ws) per plant and plant population density (Np) determined at Kano and Ibadan were linear and parallel; intercepts, however, were significantly different (P < 0·005). The theoretical maximum potential Wt and Ws per unit area (i.e. 1/b) was therefore the same at Kano and at Ibadan, 448 and 170 g/m2, respectively. However, the optimum Np at Kano and Ibadan was markedly different, c. 10 and 40 plants/m2, respectively. These differences in the relations between DM yields and Np at Kano and Ibadan are examined in terms of leaf area, radiation interception and the partitioning coefficient, and the implications for the design of other agronomic investigations in cowpea are discussed.

Type
Crops and Soils
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 127 , Issue 1 , August 1996 , pp. 89 - 96
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Azam-Ali, S. N., Nageswara, Rao R. C, Craigon, J., Wadia, K. D. R. & Williams, J. H. (1993). A method for calculating the population/yield relations of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) in semi-arid climates. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 121, 213–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, M. J., Muchow, R. C. & Wilson, G. L. (1987). The effect of plant population on peanuts (Arachis hypogaea) in a monsoonal tropical environment. Field Crops Research 17, 91–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craufurd, P. Q., Qi, A., Ellis, R. H., Summerfield, R. J. & Roberts, E. H. (1996). Development in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata). II. Effect of temperature and saturation deficit on time to flowering in photoperiod-insensitive genotypes. Experimental Agriculture 32, 13–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duncan, W. G., McCloud, D. E., McGraw, R. L. & Boote, K. J. (1978). Physiological aspects of peanut yield improvement. Crop Science 18, 1015–1020.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ezedinma, F. O. C., (1974). Effects of close spacing on cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata) in southern Nigeria. Experimental Agriculture 10, 289–298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fehr, W. R., Caviness, C. E., Burmood, D. T. & Pennington, J. S. (1971). Stage of development descriptions for soybeans, Glycine max (L.) Merrill. Crop Science 11, 929–931.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Institute Of Agricultural Research (1987). Detailed Soil Survey of Minjibir Agricultural Research Farm, Kano. Zaria, Nigeria: Ahmadu Bello University Press.Google Scholar
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (1987). Annual Report and Research Highlights 1986. Ibadan, Nigeria: IITA.Google Scholar
Khah, E. M., Roberts, E. H. & Ellis, R. H. (1989). Effects of seed ageing on growth and yield of spring wheat at different plant-population densities. Field Crops Research 20, 175–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kwapata, M. B. & Hall, A. E. (1990). Determinants of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) seed yield at extremely high plant density. Field Crops Research 24, 23–32.Google Scholar
Littleton, E. J., Dennett, M. D., Monteith, J. L. & Elston, J. (1979). The growth and development of cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata) under tropical field conditions. 2. Accumulation and partition of dry weight. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 93, 309–320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muchow, R. C, Robertson, M. J. & Pengelly, B. C. (1993 a). Radiation-use efficiency of soybean, mungbean and cowpea under different environmental conditions. Field Crops Research 32, 1–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muchow, R. C, Robertson, M. J. & Pengelly, B. C. (1993 b). Accumulation and partitioning of biomass and nitrogen by soybean, mungbean and cowpea under contrasting environmental conditions. Field Crops Research 33, 13–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nangju, D., Little, T. M. & Anjorin-Ohu, A. (1975). Effect of plant density and spatial arrangement on seed yield of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.). Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science 100, 467–470.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oladiran, J. A. (1994). The performance of plants from aged seeds of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L) Walp) at different plant populations. Scientia Horticulturae 59, 285–290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rachie, K. O. (1985). Introduction. In Cowpea Research, Production and Utilization: World Cowpea Research Conference (Eds Singh, S. R. & Rachie, K. O.), pp. xxi–xxviii. Chichester: John Wiley & Son.Google Scholar
Remison, S. U. (1980). Varietal response of cowpea to a range of densities in a forest zone. Experimental Agriculture 16, 201–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smartt, J. (1985). Evolution of grain legumes. III. Pulses in the genus Vigna. Experimental Agriculture 21, 87–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Squire, G. R. (1990). The Physiology of Tropical Crop Production. Wallingford: CAB International.Google Scholar
Vaillancourt, R. E. & Weeden, N. F. (1992). Chloroplast DNA polymorphism suggests Nigerian center of domestication for the cowpea Vigna unguiculata (Leguminosae). American Journal of Botany 79, 1194–1199.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wien, H. C. (1982). Dry matter production, leaf area development, and light interception of cowpea lines with broad and narrow leaflet shape. Crop Science 22, 733–737.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willey, R. W. & Heath, S. B. (1969). The quantitative relationships between plant population and crop yield. Advances in Agronomy 21, 281–321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, J. H. & Saxena, N. P. (1991). The use of non-destructive measurement and physiological models of yield determination to investigate factors determining differences in seed yield between genotypes of “desi” chickpeas (Cicer arietum). Annals of Applied Biology 119, 105–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar