Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-mp689 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T01:04:59.287Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Response of Cowpea Cultivars to Planting Pattern and Date of Sowing in Intercrops with Pearl Millet in Niger

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2008

Bonny R. Ntare  and
J. H. Williams
Bonny R. Ntare
Affiliation:
ICHISAT Sahelian Centre, BP 12404, Niamey, Niger
J. H. Williams
Affiliation:
ICHISAT Sahelian Centre, BP 12404, Niamey, Niger
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

A two-year study was conducted at two locations in Niger to compare the response of five cowpea cultivars to two planting patterns and two sowing dates relative to the sowing date of pearl millet. All the cowpea cultivars took less time to mature when planted three weeks after millet than when sown one week after. Early-maturing cowpea cultivars had the smallest yield, whereas the yield of the local indeterminate cultivar was nearly double that of the other cultivars at both dates of sowing. Early planting of cowpea significantly depressed millet yield, but when cowpea was planted late millet yields approached those of the sole crop. The local cultivar depressed millet yields more than the other cowpea cultivars. Planting pattern had no significant effect on the yield of either cowpea or millet. Cowpea yield was reduced by more than 50% by two weeks delay in sowing, confirming that the sowing date of cowpea relative to millet is a critical factor in the Sahelian pearl millet/cowpea intercropping system. There were marked differences in the effect of cowpea cultivar on millet yield but these differences were consistent over sowing dates.

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 28 , Issue 1 , January 1992 , pp. 41 - 48
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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

Fussell, L. K. & Serafini, P. G. (1985). Association de cultures dans les zones tropicale semi-arides d'Afrique de l'Ouest: stratégies de recherches antérieueres et future. In Technologies Appropriées pour les Paysans de Zones Semi-arides de l'Afrique de l'Ouest, 254–278 (Eds Ohm, W. and Nagy, J. G.). West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Purdue University.Google Scholar
Ntare, B. R., Serafini, P. G. & Fussell, L. K. (1989). Recent developments in pearl millet/cowpea cropping systems for low-rainfall areas of Sudano-Sahelian Zone of West Africa. In Soil, Crop, and Water Management Systems for Rainfed Agriculture in the Sudano-Sahelian Zone: Proceedings of an International Workshop, 7–11 January 1987, ICRISAT Sahelian Center, Niamey, Niger, 277–289. Patancheru, India: ICRISAT.Google Scholar
Ntare, B. R. (1989). Evaluation of cowpea cultivars for intercropping with pearl millet in the Sahelian Zone of West Africa. Field Crops Research 20:31–40.Google Scholar
Ntare, B. R. (1990). Intercropping morphologically different cowpea with pearl millet in a short season environment of the Sahel. Experimental Agriculture 26:41–47.Google Scholar
Sivakumar, M. V. K. (1988). Predicting rainy season potential from the onset of rains in southern Sahelian and Sudanian climatic zones of west Africa. Agriculture and Forestry Meteorology 42:295–305.Google Scholar
Steiner, K. G. (1982). Intercropping in Tropical Smallholder Agriculture with Special Reference to West Africa. Eschborn, Germany: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit.Google Scholar
Summerfield, R. J., Patel, J. S., Roberts, E. H. & Wien, H. C. (1985). The physiology of cowpeas. In Cowpea Research, Production and Utilisation, 65–101 (Eds Singh, S. R. and Rachie, K. O.). Chichester, UK: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar