<div>Background: Mixed intercropping is the commonly practiced cropping system but it is unproductive with a low return on investment. This study was conducted at the Bela-Bela region of Limpopo province, South Africa to assess the performance of improved cowpea varieties in a cowpea-maize strip intercropping in comparison with farmers&rsquo; traditional cropping practice (mixed intercropping). Strip intercropping is a novel productive cropping system and its productivity has not been tested in study region. There is a dire need to test the productivity of this important novel cropping system practice in the region. 
 
Methods: Five cowpea varieties (TVu 13464, IT86D-1010, Glenda, IT82E-16 and IT87K-499-35) and maize were planted under strip intercropping, monocropping and mixed intercropping as control treatments. Data were collected on growth and yield parameters and were analyzed using Genstat software 20.1. 
 
Result: Strip intercropping significantly improved the yield attributes and land equivalent ratio (LER) of the varieties as compared to the mixed intercropping. Strip intercropping significantly enhanced the grain yield and land equivalent ratio (LER) of IT82E-16, IT86D-1010, TVu 13464 and IT87K-499-35 as compared to Glenda. Adoption of strip intercropping and the high-yielding varieties will enhance crop diversity, food security, and nutrition in Limpopo Province.</div>

Evaluation of Performance of Improved Cowpea Varieties in Cowpea-maize Strip Intercropping in Bela-Bela, Limpopo Province, South Africa

<div>The present experimentation was undertaken during pre-kharif season of 2013 and 2014 to study the varietal performance of cowpea in rice-wheat cropping system at Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Pundibai, Cooch Behar, West Bengal after harvesting of wheat under zero tillage conditions and before rice sowing. Experiment was laid out in randomized block design with three replications by using eighteen varieties of cowpea. The result of pooled data revealed that all the growth, yield parameters and quality parameters varied significantly with respect to different varieties of cowpea. The longest and lowest vine length was noticed in Lafa Sundari Bangla (112.10 cm) and VU-5 (32.64 cm), minimum and maximum days for flowering, first harvesting and last harvesting was recorded in Kaberee and Pusa Phalguni Gold. Variety Girija and Deshi Lafa produced longest pod (45.40 cm), highest individual pod weight (14.29g). &nbsp;For number of pods per plant Triguna (31.07) was found highest which was statistically at par with Kanak (30.70), Kashi Kanchan (29.33). Maximum yield of 18.51 t/ha was obtained from Kashi Kanchan followed by Triguna (17.07 tonnes/ ha) and Kanak (16.69 tonnes/ha). Lafa Sundari Bangala recorded with highest beta carotene content (1037 IU/100g fresh pod), ascorbic acid content (20.17 mg/100g fresh pod) as well as highest protein content of 4.69 per cent. Hence, it is concluded that the cowpea variety Kashi Kanchan, Triguna and Kanak may be recommended for commercial cultivation in rice-wheat cropping system under terai zone of West Bengal as they produced higher yield (34.52 %, 24.06 % and 21.29 %, respectively) over the check variety Lafa Sundari Bangla.</div>

<div>Performance of cowpea varieties under zero tillage conditions in rice-wheat cropping system</div>

<div>Background: Cowpea is one of the most important leguminous vegetable crops. It has a unique ability of biological nitrogen fixation and mobilization of insoluble soil nutrient and bringing qualitative changes in soil. The basic concept of integrated nutrient management system is to maintain of plant nutrients supply to achieve a good level of crop production by optimizing the benefits from all possible sources of plant nutrients in an integrated manner, appropriate to each farming system. Considering these aspects, a field experiment was conducted to boost up productivity of cowpea seed. 
 
Methods: A field experiment was carried out during Rabi season, 2015-16 at Research Field of the Department of Vegetable Science, College of Horticulture, Mandsaur (Madhya Pradesh). The experiment was arranged in factorial randomized block design with twenty treatment combinations comprising four cowpea varieties, viz. V1-Pusa Sukomal, V2-Kashi Unnati, V3-Kashi Kanchan and V4-Kashi Shyamal and five integrated nutrient management (INM) practices, viz. N1-Vermicompost 2.5t + Rhizobium (10g/kg seeds) + PSB (10 g/kg seeds) + N (0 kg) + P2O5 (90 kg) + K2O (70 kg)/ha; N2 -Vermicompost 2.5t + Rhizobium (10 g/kg seeds) + PSB (10 g/kg seeds) + N (15kg) + P2O5 (90kg) + K2O (70 kg)/ha; N3 -Vermicompost 2.5t + Rhizobium (10 g/kg seeds) + PSB (10 g/kg seeds) + N (20 kg) + P2O5 (90 kg) + K2O (70 kg)/ha; N4 -Vermicompost 2.5 t + Rhizobium (10 g/kg of seeds) +PSB (10 g/kg seeds) + N (25 kg) + P2O5 (90 kg) + K2O (70 kg)/ha and N5-Vermicompost 2.5 t + Rhizobium (10 g/kg seeds) + PSB (10 g/kg seeds) + N (30 kg) + P2O5 (90 kg) + K2O (70 kg)/ha. 
 
Result: In present experiment the cowpea variety V1-Pusa Sukomal recorded superior performance for growth attributes, yield and yield attributes and quality attributes. This variety had taken minimum days to first flowering, days to 50% flowering and days to harvesting. Among the nutrient levels, application of Vermicompost 2.5 t + Rhizobium (10 g/kg seeds) + PSB (10 g/kg seeds) + N (30 kg) + P2O5 (90 kg) + K2O (70 kg)/ha resulted in the highest growth parameters, yield and yield parameters of cowpea seed.</div>

Influence of Varieties and Integrated Nutrient Management Practices on Growth and Yield of Seed in Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.)

<div style="text-align: justify;">Agriculture must become nutrition-smart. Food security without nutrition security is not enough. Our basic food systems have to be optimized to provide the greatest amount of nutrients per square meter per unit time, especially in the face of climate change. &nbsp;Majority of the Indian people are vegetarian and they depend primarily upon grain legumes for dietary protein. Unfortunately the production of grain legumes in India has remained stagnant since 1950 causing declining per capita availability and widespread malnutrition. This is because most of the good lands have gone to the green revolution led &lsquo;wheat-rice&rsquo; and &lsquo;rice-rice&rsquo; cropping systems and food legumes have been pushed to marginal lands. Also, the traditional food legume varieties are late in maturity with low yield potential. This has led to inadequate protein and minerals in the diets of rural and urban masses on one hand and imbalanced soil fertility due to cereal-cereal rotation on the other hand. Therefore, increased cultivation of pulses is urgently needed. How can this be achieved with the limited land is one of the major challenges of agricultural research. The only answer is to breed and cultivate short duration food legumes in the existing niches between cereal-cereal systems. Wheat is harvested in March&ndash;April and rice is transplanted in July leaving about 80-90 days gap in which a short duration food legume can be grown. A number of photo-insensitive and heat tolerant &lsquo;60-day cowpea&rsquo; varieties have been recently developed by Pantnagar University which were tested under farmer participatory on-farm trials and All India Multi-location Coordinated Trials with the support from Harvest Plus Project of CGIAR. These varieties can be grown as a niche crop in the wheat-rice cropping system of northern India which has a potential area of over 10 million ha. and also fit well in rice fellows in southern India.&nbsp;</div>

Short durartion cowpea varieties for cultivation as a niche crop in various cropping systems for enhanced pulse production

Background: The development of cowpea cultivation needs to be given priority because, in developing countries, cowpeas make up for many protein deficiencies. Producing quality seeds of this legume would be an essential objective if food security is to be achieved. This study aimed to establish the appropriate fruit load for optimum production of quality cowpea seed. 
 
Methods: To achieve this, the impact of five different fruit loads (10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 pods per plant) on the yield of four cowpea varieties (KVx745-11P (V1), KVx775-33-2G (Tiligr&eacute;) (V2), Gourgou (V3) and KVx780-6 (V4)) was assessed. The seeds&rsquo; germination capacity and the seedlings&rsquo; vigor were then assessed for each of the four varieties. 
 
Result: Findings showed that seed length, width, thickness and weight changed significantly with increasing load in all varieties. The shortest time to emergence was recorded in the V1 variety for seeds from fruit loads of 20, 30, 40 and 50 pods per plant. For the ten pods per plant fruit load, the shortest emergence time was achieved with the V4 variety. The varieties V1, V2 and V4 studied produced excellent agronomic quality seeds when the pod was harvested with a load of 10 pods per plant. The fruit load significantly affected the seed quality and yield across all four varieties. Seeds from the minor C10 load for varieties V1, V2 and V4 and C20 for variety V3 exhibit high seedling vigour.

Effect of Fruit Load on Seed Quality of Cowpea Varieties [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. (Fabaceae)]

Background: Bradyrhizobium establishes an effective symbiosis with cowpea. This study evaluated the inoculation of seven native strains in two commercial varieties, demonstrating their potential to enhance symbiotic nitrogen fixation (SNF) and contribute to the agronomic utilization of cowpea in degraded soils of the Peruvian arid coast. 
 
Methods: We implemented a completely randomized design with ten treatments: seven inoculated with selected Bradyrhizobium strains-four B. yuanmingense (8.1.1, 8.2, 19.3, 20.1), two Bradyrhizobium sp. (1.1, 12.3) and one B. diversitatis 25.1 and three controls-a consortium of effective strains (B. yuanmingense Rc-458-01 and Rc-455-02), a fertilized treatment (40:60:30; N: P: K) and an uninoculated, unfertilized absolute control. Reactivated and purified strains were used to prepare inocula. Two cowpea varieties (Vaina verde INIA-432 and Vaina verde CAR-9) were sown in non-sterile soil and inoculated with standardized cell suspensions. We performed two evaluations: At 45 days post-inoculation, we assessed symbiotic effectiveness through plant height, shoot and root dry weight, nodule dry weight, number of nodules, shoot nitrogen content and nitrogen accumulation; at maturity, we evaluated yield and grain quality, including grain nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content, number of pods per plant, 100-seed weight, grains per pod and grain yield per plant. 
 
Result: Inoculation with native B. yuanmingense strains 19.3 and 20.1, as well as Bradyrhizobium sp. 12.3, significantly increased symbiotic and grain-related parameters in both cowpea varieties.

Native Bradyrhizobium Enhancing the Growth of Two Peruvian Commercial Varieties of Cowpea

Background: Information on the physicochemical, cooking and sensory qualities of cowpea seeds are required for nutrition information, to design processing and for consumer acceptance. In view of this, three cowpea varieties (Tswana, Blackeye and ER7) grown in Botswana were evaluated. 
 
Method: Proximate compositions, physical, gelatinization and sensory properties respectively were evaluated following AOAC, conventional, Amylograph and on 7-point hedonic sensory acceptability scale. 
 
Result: Significant variations (p&lt;0.05) were observed in fat, fiber, ash and available carbohydrate (CHO) contents, length, thickness, hundred seeds weight (HSW), hydration capacity, hydration index, cooking time, flour starches maximum gelatinization temperature (Tm,&deg;C) and viscosity at Tm. The percentage moisture, protein, fiber, fat, ash and available carbohydrate contents ranged 9.5-10.1, 21.7-22.8, 2.3-2.6, 1.1-2.0, 2.1-3.0 and 59.4-62.3, respectively. Initial gelatinization temperature (To,&deg;C) and Tm (&deg;C) were ranged 71.3(ER7)-73.7(Tswana) and 83.0(ER7)-84.7(Blackeye), respectively. Significant (p&lt;0.05) variations in Tm and viscosity at Tm were observed because of differences in water uptake, swelling and thickening ability at high temperature. Longest cooking time was recorded for Tswana (43.57 min) while shortest was for Blackeye (36.10 min). Tswana recorded a longer cooking time probably because of low water hydration capacity, small seed size and low HSW. There was no significant difference in the sensory liking of the cooked cowpea seeds and were rated from slightly to moderately like. Cowpeas of high protein and fiber contents, short cooking time and high thickening ability on cooking are preferred for healthy diets. In terms of cooking time and thickening ability, Tswana variety appeared poor. Shorter cooking time, high protein content and high thickening ability of Blackeye cowpea is more acceptable. The ER7 is preferred for its large seed size.

Physicochemical, Cooking Quality and Sensory Acceptability of Three Cowpea Varieties Grown in Botswana

A field experiment was conducted during January 2012 to March 2014.  Five fodder cowpea varieties (V1- UPC  618, V2-UPC - 622, V3- Bundel Lobia-1, V4 - COFC - 8 and V5- CO-5) were evaluated for their drought tolerance under four soil moisture stress levels (M1- pre sowing irrigation + lifesaving irrigation, M2- pre sowing  irrigation + irrigation at IW/CPE ratio of 0.4, M3- pre sowing irrigation + irrigation at IW/CPE ratio of 0.6 and M4-pre sowing irrigation + irrigation at IW/CPE ratio of 0.8).  The investigation was conducted as two separate experiments, one in open and other in shade.  The experiments were laid out in split plot design with four replications. Observations on growth characters such as plant height, number of branches and leaf stem ratio were recorded. The results revealed that plant height and number of branches were maximum at irrigation at IW/CPE ratio of 0.8 both in open and shade.  Among the varieties, COFC - 8 recorded maximum plant height and number of branches at all irrigation levels in open and partial shade.


Growth characters of fodder cowpea varieties as influeced by  soil moisture stress levels

<div>Background: The performance of five improved cowpea varieties under strip intercropping has been conducted in specific locations to assess their yield but their adaptability has not been determined. This paper presents results that assessed the adaptability of the improved cowpea varieties under strip intercropping in three locations in Limpopo province.&nbsp; 
 
Methods: Five cowpea varieties (TVu 13464, IT86D-1010, Glenda, IT82E-16 and IT87K-499-35) and maize were planted under strip intercropping in three locations (UL-Farm, Bela-Bela and Ga-Thaba) and two seasons. Data were collected on maturity, grain yield, land equivalent ratio, pods plant-1, plant height and seed size and were analysed using Genstat 20.1. 
 
Result: The ranking plot of grain yield indicates that the principal components (PC1 and PC2) explained 96.33% of the total sum of square variation. The results indicate that IT86D-1010 and IT82E-16 matured early and were best yielders. The LER from IT82E-16, IT86D-1010, TVu 13464 and IT87K-499-35 exceedingly performed better that from Glenda (Control) thus indicating that they are superior in adaptation and in resource utilization. The performance and adaptation of the varieties varied across locations: IT82E-16 is adapted to UL-Farm and Bela-Bela while IT86D-1010 and IT87K-499-35 are adapted to Ga-Thaba and their production should be based on their best location(s).</div>

Productivity Variables for Adaptability of Cowpea Varieties under Strip Intercropping in Three Locations in Limpopo Province, South Africa

Background: Cowpea is a versatile leguminous pulse crop that exhibits resilience to drought and adapts well to various climates. It serves multiple purposes and can be enjoyed both in its raw form and as a grain pulse. Various studies established that cowpea has the potential vegetable crops with nitrogen fixation capacity. Thus, the study of environmentally safety and clean production of cowpea for better crop yield along with energy use efficiency and carbon budgeting for sustainable crop production is an important issue for the upcoming future. 
 
Methods: The present study was carried out at the experimental farm of Krishi Vigyan Kendra-Sepahijala, Latiacherra, Tripura under CAU (I) on 2022 and 2023 with three high yielding cowpea varieties (Kashi Kanchan, Kashi Gauri and Kashi Unnati). The design followed in the experiment adhered to a Randomized block design (RBD) with five replications.&nbsp; 
 
Result: Experiments result revealed that Kashi Kanchan perform outstanding by showing maximum pod yield. In the context of energy equivalent and Carbon budgeting, Kashi Kanchan is showing high energy use efficiency (45.01) and high carbon efficiency (1.59).