Performance of cowpea under three tillage systems on an Oxic Paleustalf in southwestern Nigeria

Inappropriate tillage systems and poor seedbed types have often been identified as major constraints to cereal crop production in the Savannah agro-ecological zones in southwestern Nigeria. The objective of this present investigation was to assess the performance of cowpea grown under three different tillage systems. A field experiment was conducted using two cultivars of cowpea (IT 90K-277-2 and IT 86D-719) and three tillage systems (zero, ridge and flat). The experiment had a split-plot design with four replications. The main-plot factors were the tillage systems, while the sub-plot factors were the sub-plot factors. The results showed that there were significance (P≤0.05) differences between the tillage systems in terms of plant height, fresh weight of pods per plant, as well and yield components. However, in all other parameters (leaf number per plant, leaf area per plant and weight of straw), there were no significant differences between them within seasons. It could be concluded that ridge tillage system gave highest output in terms of the yield and yield attributes, as well as in terms of its economic benefit.