Exogenous Application of Organic and Inorganic Nutrients and Their Impact on Agronomical Traits, Yield and Quality of Vegetable Cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L) Walp]

Abstract

The study was undertaken on heavy black soil at Regional Horticulture Research Station, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari, Gujarat (India) in order to analyze the effect of foliar application of organic and inorganic nutrients on growth, yield and quality of vegetable cowpea. The field was thoroughly ploughed and harrowed followed by land levelling using wooden plank. Basal dose of manure and fertilizer of 20:40:00 kg ha-1 was incorporated in the soil during land preparation. The seeds were planted 45 cm between rows and 30 cm between plants laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with nine treatments replicated three times. Treatments were as follows: Control (T1), 2% Panchagavya (An organic solution made from cow dung, cow urine, cow butter, cow curd and cow milk) (T2), 3% Panchagavya (T3), 0.5% Novel plus organic liquid nutrients (T4), 1% Novel plus organic liquid nutrients (T5), 1.5 % Novel plus organic liquid nutrients (T6), 0.5% Micronutrient grade IV (T7), 1% Micronutrient grade IV (T8) and 1.5% Micronutrient grade IV (T9). The observations were made at the intervals of 60 and 90 DAS and data was collected on plant growth, yield and quality parameters. Results showed that the application of 1% Novel plus organic liquid nutrients (NOVEL) (T5) exhibited maximum plant height (35.73 and 56.93 cm, respectively), number of leaves per plant (39.27 and 52.73, respectively) at 60 and 90 days after sowing (DAS) and increased leaf area (162.14 cm2). Substantial effect of foliar application of 1% Novel plus organic liquid nutrients (NOVEL) (T5) was detected in yield parameters viz., number of clusters per plant (12.07), number of pods per plant (58.00), marketable pod yield (6.04 kg/plot).  Furthuer to this, 1% Novel plus organic liquid nutrients indicated notable effect on protein content of pods (24.04%), iron (Fe) content (220.12 ppm) and zinc (Zn) content (62.76 ppm) of cowpea pods at final harvest. Novel Plus organic liquid nutrient can play a major role in growth, yield and quality in vegetable cowpea production.