YIELD OF COWPEA [VIGNA UNGUICULATA (L.)] VARIETIES GROWN WITHOUT PESTICIDES

ABSTRACT

Cowpea is an important staple crop in Nigeria. Due to cowpea’s vulnerability to pests and diseases, it is treated with various pesticides to control the pests and diseases to obtain maximum yields. Pesticides are potentially toxic to humans and animals through residues left in seeds and can cause pollution of the environment. The first objective of this study was to produce cowpea seeds without pesticides for the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Benin, Benin City. The second was to identify varieties that produce high yields without pesticides. The pot experiment was carried out in the Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin. Nine cultivars and two local varieties were used for the experiment. The study was conducted using a CRD (Completely Randomized Design) with 11 (Cowpea varieties) as treatments replicated 3 times. The yield variables evaluated were total number of pods, pod weight, pod length, number of seeds and seed weight. Cowpea varieties differed significantly in number of seeds per pod. The highest numbers of seeds without insecticide application were from Sampea 7, Sampea 14, Sampea 15 and Local 1 varieties. Pod weight, pod length, total number of pods per plant and seed weight were similar among cowpea varieties. Cowpea was produced successfully without the use of pesticides.