Response of Sulphur and Zinc on Yield Attributes, Yield and Economics of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.)

Abstract

During the Kharif season of 2023, a field experiment took place at the Crop Research Farm within the Department of Agronomy at SHUATS in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. The objective was to investigate the influence of sulphur and zinc on the yield attributes, yield and economics of cowpea. Growth and yield data were collected for the crop.The experiment followed a Randomized Block Design with 10 treatments, each replicated three times. The treatments included varying levels of sulphur (25, 30, 35 kg/ha) and zinc (5, 10, 15 kg/ha), along with a control treatment of 20-50-20 kg/ha using Cowpea variety ‘Kashinidhi’. The findings indicated that applying 35 kg/ha of sulphur in along with 15 kg/ha of zinc resulted in the following outcomes for cowpea, Maximum Number of pods per plant (17.1), Number of seeds per pod (9.8), Seed yield (1423.27 kg/ha), Stover yield (3201.9 kg/ha), Maximum gross returns (1,06,745.14 INR/ha), net returns (73,245.14 INR/ha) and B:C ratio (2.19). These favourable results were observed in Treatment-9, where the specified combination of 35 kg/ha of Sulphur + 15 kg/ha Zinc was applied.