Agronomic Performances and Tolerance to Brown Spot and Aphid Attacks of Cowpea Varieties under the Mineral Fertilizers’ Effect in Burkina Faso

Abstract

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) is a leguminous crop whose cultivation faces to biotic constraints. In addition, the efficient use of mineral fertilizers is often necessary. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of four (04) mineral fertilizer formulations on the agronomic performance of the cowpea varieties like KVX442-3-25SH (Komcallé) and KVX775-33-2G (Tiligré) in Burkina Faso. The methodology used is based on apply the experimental design with completely randomized block. Five treatments and five replications were applied: T0 (control), T1 (NPK: 14-23-14); T2 (NPK: 14-18-18); T3 (NPK: 16-16-16) and T4 (NPK: 15-15-15). The parameters used were the number of ramifications, pods and nodules per plant, the number of grains per pod, the weight of dry biomass, the grain yield per pot, the foliar severity of brown spot disease and the incidence of aphid attack. The results showed that treatment T4 recorded the highest performance in terms of the number of pods and nodules per plant, with respective values of 15 pods/plant and 25 nodules/plant for the Komcallé variety and 07 pods/plant and 21 nodules/plant for the Tiligre variety. Treatments T1 and T4 recorded the lowest leaf incidences of brown spot disease in the Komcallé (12.33%) and Tiligré (11.06%) varieties respectively. On the other hand, treatments T2 and T3 recorded the lowest incidence of aphid attacks on the Komcallé variety (19.67%) and the Tiligré variety (21.89%), respectively. In conclusion, mineral fertilizer can contribute to increase cowpea yields in Burkina Faso.