The aim of this study was to evaluate plant growth, grain yield and symbiotic N contribution by 32
cowpea genotypes, at Taung in South Africa. The data from a 2-year field study conducted in 2005 and
2006 showed that genotypes Fahari, Pan 311 and Glenda exhibited the highest dry matter yield and N
contribution as they produced 2.9-, 2.7- and 3.5-fold more dry matter than cv. ITH98-46 and yielded 2.7-,
2.2- and 3.2-fold more N than cultivar ITH98-46 from IITA. Except for Benpila, all the 32 cowpea
genotypes derived between 52.0 and 80.9% of their N nutrition from symbiotic fixation in 2005, with
IT82D-889, Botswana White, IT93K-2045-29 and Ngonji exhibiting the highest %Ndfa values. The
genotype Fahari showed the highest amount N-fixed (182 kg N-fixed/ha), followed by Pan 311, Glenda,
TVu11424 and Mamlaka which contributed 160, 146, 130 and 125 kg N/ha, respectively. Genotypes Pan
311, Fahari and Glenda were among those that produced highest grain yield in 2005 and except for
CH14 and IT86S-2246 (which produced 131 kg N/ha each), Fahari, Glenda and Pan 311, were again the
highest in symbiotic N contribution (112, 106 and 105 kg N/ha, respectively). Grain yield was similarly
high in Glenda, Pan 311 and Fahari (3.3, 3.1 and 2.9 t/ha, respectively) in 2006. In general, these data
show that genotypes that fixed more N also produced more biomass and grain yield and are therefore,
the best candidates for inclusion in cropping systems as biofertilizers.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:tut/oai:encore.tut.ac.za:d1000159 |
| Date | 21 September 2011 |
| Creators | Belane, AK, Asiwe, J, Dakora, FD |
| Publisher | African Journal of Biotechnology |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Post-print |
| Format |
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