Economic evaluation of cowpea production under different spraying regimes in three different southern agro-ecologies of Nigeria

Abstract

This study was carried out to evaluate different spraying regimes for the production of two cowpea varieties (Ife Brown and IT2246) in the humid southwest agro-ecologies of Nigeria in order to recommend optimum spraying regimes for cowpea production in the zone. Agronomic data were collected from trials conducted in 2020 and 2021 in outstations representative of the broad agroecologies of this region of Nigeria. The data were subjected to partial budget and marginal rate-ofreturn analyses. The results show varying potential of the cowpea varieties and spraying regimes across locations. Ife Brown cowpea can be produced profitably under forest agro-ecologies (Ibadan) with three spraying regimes at a moderate application rate of 200 litres per hectare. In the derived savannah, the Ife Brown and IT2246 varieties were profitable with four spraying regimes at a moderate application rate of 200 litres per hectare, while planting Ife Brown with two regimes of spraying at moderate pesticide application rate of 200 litres per hectare was profitable for the southern Guinea savannah agro-ecologies.