Abstract
Field trials were conducted at the Research Farm of Niger State College of Agriculture, Mokwa, in the Southern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria during the 2019 and 2020 wet seasons to investigate the Reaction of cowpea varieties to periods of weed interference. The treatments were made of four cowpea varieties and ten periods of weed-interference in two sets. One set of the weed interference treatment plots were kept weed-free for 3, 6, 9, 12 weeks after sowing (WAS) till harvest while the other sets of treatment plots were left weed infested for the corresponding periods. There were two control treatments in which one plot was kept weed free till harvest while the other plot was left infested until harvest. The treatments were laid out in a split- plot design with three replications in a randomized complete block design where the main plot was assigned to cowpea varieties and the sub-plot to periods of weed interference. The results obtained from the study indicate that cowpea variety IT90k-277-2 and IT98k-305 produced significantly (P<0.05) highest grain yield compared to the other varieties in both years. Weed dry matter production was highest in IT98k-305 but was least with Dan Sokoto variety. Weeding cowpea for 3 WAS only was quite inadequate for effective weed control and promotion of acceptable grain yield. Cowpea varieties IT90k-277-2 and IT98k-305 are recommended for cultivation while a weed-free period for the first 4 – 6 WAS of growth is required for optimum grain yield in the study area.
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