Impact of Cocoa Shell and Jack Fruit Peel Waste Biocompost Influence on the Growth and Yield Attributes of Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis (L.)

Abstract

Background: The present work was to evaluate biocomposted cocoa shell and jack fruit peel wastes and their effect on the vegetative development and yield parameters of Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis L. Var. NS-620 (Cowpea). Methods: The experiments were conducted in the Department of Botany, Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, during 2019.The experiments consists of various treatments of biocompost. Different growth stages of the plant sample were analysed for root length, shoot length, number of leaves, number of nodules, number of flowers, plant fresh weight and dry weight on 25, 50 and 75 DAS. The yield parameters of cowpea such as number of pods per plant, length of pod, number of seeds per pod, weight of seeds per pods, pod fresh and dry weight were analysed on 90 DAS. Result: The experimental result showed that T8 (Raw Jack fruit peel+10 g Pleurotus eous+10 g Pleurotus florida+Eudrilus eugeniae 5 t/ha-1) and T4 (Raw Cocoa shell+10 g Pleurotus eous+10 g Pleurotus florida+Eudrilus eugeniae 5 t/ha-1) treatment significantly increased the vegetative growth in root length, shoot length, number of leaves/plant, number of nodules, fresh weight and dry weight on 25 to 75 DAS and number of flowers on 45 DAS. Maximum increase in the yield parameters was observed in number of pods/plant, length of pod, number of seeds/pod, weight of seed/pod, fresh weight and dry weight of pod in Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis L. as compared to other treatments and control. The main objective of the study was to develop high yielding and healthy vegetable crops with the help of biocomposted agroindustrial waste without damaging the environment.