Growth and yield of fodder cowpea as influenced by nutrient management in sandy loams of Onattukara in Kerala Martin Ancy G1, Jayapal Atul1,*, Pillai Shalini P1, Mini V2, Sharu S R.1 1College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur, India, 680656 2Onattukara Regional Agricultural Research Station, Kayamkulam *Corresponding Author's Email: atul.j@kau.in
Online published on 28 March, 2024. Abstract An experiment was conducted to examine the effect of nutrient management on growth and yield of fodder cowpea in sandy loams of Onattukara. The experiment was laid out in RBD with eight treatments and three replications. The treatments were T1 (100% RDF), T2 (75% RDF), T3 (T1 + zinc @ 0.25% as foliar spray at 20 DAS), T4 (T1 + boron @ 0.25% as foliar spray at 20 DAS), T5 (T1 + boron @ 0.125% + zinc @ 0.125% as foliar spray at 20 DAS), T6 (T2 + zinc @ 0.25% as foliar spray @ 20 DAS), T7 (T2 + boron @ 0.25% as foliar spray @ 20 DAS) and T8 (T2 + boron @ 0.125% + zinc @ 0.125% as foliar spray at 20 DAS). The results revealed that T3 produced significantly higher plant height, number of leaves per plant and LAI at 30 DAS and at harvest. The green fodder yield per plant (106.72 g), green fodder yield per hectare (23.74 t), dry fodder yield per plant (10.12 g) and dry fodder yield per hectare (2.25 t) were significantly influenced by the treatment T3. For enhanced growth and yield of fodder cowpea in Onattukara sandy loam soils of Kerala, the crop has to be supplied with 100 % recommended dose of fertilizers (FYM @ 10 t/ha, N, P2 O5 and K2 O @ 25:60:30 kg/ha) along with foliar application of zinc sulphate heptahydrate @ 0.25 percent at 20 days after sowing. Top Keywords Foliar, Fodder yield, Onattukara, Sandy loam. Top |