COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT COWPEA VARIETIES/LINES FOR GREEN FODDER AND GRAIN YIELD UNDER RAINFED CONDITIONS OF ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN

The study was conducted to compare five different cowpea varieties/lines for green fodder, dry matter, grain yield and yield parameters under rainfed conditions at National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad, Pakistan during August, 2007. Land was prepared by ploughing with moldboard plough, cultivator and finally plank. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications, keeping plot size of 1.8 x 6m. The parameters determined were tendril length (cm), number of branches plant^-1, number of leaves plant^-1, pods plant^-1, leaf area, green fodder yield, dry matter yield, pod length, seeds pod^-1, 1000 grain weight and green fodder yield at 5% pod formation. Results revealed that the cowpea cultivar CP/V-2 produced the highest green fodder yield (28.50 t ha^-1) and dry matter yield (6.53 t ha^-1) than all the other cowpea cultivars. It was concluded that the cowpea cultivar CP/V-2 produced the highest green fodder yield and can be recommended for the cultivation under the rainfed conditions of Pothowar region.