YIELD AND YIELD RELATED COMPONENTS OF COWPEA AS INFLUENCED BY PLANTING DATE, CULTIVAR AND SPRAYING..

Cowpea is attacked by a variety of insect pests that wreak havoc on the crop in the fieldat various stages of development, often resulting in crop failure. During the 2012 and 2013 cropping seasons, an experiment was conducted using five improved cowpea cultivars and one local check, two planting dates, and two spraying regimes across two major agrozones to reduce insect pest damage, increase cowpea grain yield, and other yield-related components.

The study used a randomised full block design with three replications at three different locations: Sumbuya, Serabu, and Nguala.The effect of cultivar, planting date, and spraying regime on the calculated parameters was highly important, according to the results. On the calculated parameters, the interaction effect of cultivar, planting date, and spraying regime was also important. In sprayed plots, grain yield, pod load, and biomass were all higher than in unsprayed plots. Planting in September also resulted in higher grain yield and pod load. Furthermore, all of the improved varieties outperformed the local variety in terms of yield.When opposed to the local variety, all of the improved varieties had shorter days to 50%flowering and maturity, with spraying plots flowering and maturing faster when planted in September rather than June.These findings show that combining cowpea cultivar and planting date with minimal insecticide application can reduce cowpea insect pests throughout Sierra Leone's major agroecological zones, resulting in increased grain yield and other yield-related components of cowpea.

Please see the link - https://ikprress.org/index.php/AJAAS/article/view/4963