Effects of water stress on the rooting, nodulation potentials and growth of cowpea (<i>Vigna unguiculata</i> (l) walp)

Abstract

Rooting, nodulation and growth ability of cowpea growing under limited water supply was investigated at the Teaching and Research Farm of the Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria. The experiment was conducted in plastic buckets arranged in a completely Randomized Design with three replications, and treatments represented as 500ml, 1000ml, and 1500ml of water, respectively. Control treatment was represented by cowpea plants that grown with rain-fed water. The 500ml and 1000ml of water were applied two times a week to the receiving cowpea plants while the 1500ml was applied daily to the receiving cowpea. Data were collected on the number of nodules/plant, root length/plant (cm) measured at 2 and 4 wks after planting (WAP) respectively, number of leaves/plant, number of branches/plant and seed yield (kg/ha) ollected data were subjected to analysis of variance at the 5% level of significance. Results showed that cowpea plants that received 500ml of water produced mean nodule of 6.0 which was significantly (p