Swift Journal of Agricultural Sciences (SJAR)
January 2016 Vol. 2(1), pp. 001-011

Copyright © 2016 Swift Journals


Original Research Paper

Effect of Irrigation on Growth of Cowpea at different Developmental Stages and Water Use Efficiency

O.T Faloye1 A.S. Ojo2 and O. Fasanu3

1Department of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. 2Yaba Polytechnic, Nigeria 3Federal College of Education, Lagos, Nigeria.

*Corresponding Author E-mail: faloye.temitope@gmail.com

Accepted 19th October, 2015


Abstract

Determining soil moisture content is important in quantifying the impact of irrigation on the growth and yield of crops. For this purpose, a season field experiment was conducted during the dry season of 2014. The objectives were to determine the effect of soil moisture content on and growth of cowpea at different stages of growth and water use efficiency, under different irrigation regimes. Four irrigation regimes; 100%, 80%, 60% and 40% of net irrigation requirement (NIT) were adopted. Results showed that the crop growth parameters were not significantly (P ≤ 0.05) affected at both and initial and vegetative stages, but were significantly (P ≤ 0.05) affected at mid season and late season stages of growth. This is as a result of available moisture uptake that is significantly (P ≤ 0.05) at soil depth of 10-20cm and 20-30cm. The optimum yield, Crop water use efficiency and field water use efficiency for effective water management were obtained at irrigation regime of 60% NIT which implies that about 40% of the irrigation would be saved.

Keywords:Moisture content; Growth stages; Yield; Growth; Irrigation regimes

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How To Cite This Article:

O.T Faloye, A.S. Ojo, and O. Fasanu. Effect of Irrigation on Growth of Cowpea at different Developmental Stages and Water Use Efficiency. Swift Journal of Agricultural Sciences 2(1), pp. 001-011.