Identification of suitable varieties of cow- The soil was red acidic in reaction, me- pea [I/igrza unguiculata (L.) Walp.] for fod: dium in organic carbon (0.69%) and avail- der purpose and their nutritional require- able N (300 kglha), low in available P(6.2 ments specially of phosphorus is important kglha) and rich in available K (295 kgtha). for obtaining higher forage yields under There was a long drought ~~ell(33.8 mi,,- rainfed conditions. heref fore an attempt in 7 rainy days) from mid-June to mid-sep< was made to evaluate the comparative per- tember. The crop was sown on 18 Septem- formance of 4 cowpea varieties (IFC 8401, ber 199 1. A basal dose of 20 kg Nlha and IFC 8503, UPC 8801) and EC 4216) 20 kg K,O/ha was applied along with P as under 3 levels of phosphorus (0, 30 and 60 per treatment. The crop was harvested at kg P,O,/ha) at Tiptur. The experiment was 50% flowering stage which took 65 days conducted during the rainy season (khar~j) from sowing. A rainfall of 288 mm was re- 1991. ceived in 15 rainy days during the crop- growth period. Table 1. Growth parameters, green-fbcjder and dry mat- The plant height and number of leaves/ ter yields of cowpea varieties &q influenced by plant were not affected due to varieties and phosphorus phosphorus (Table 1). Green-fodder yields Treatment Plant Trifoliate Yield (qha) of IFC 8503 and IFC 8401 were signifi- he~ght lcavesl (cm) plant Green Dry cantly higher (9.7 and 16.4%, respectively) -- - fodder matter than EC 4216, while all these were at par Variety with UPC 8801. IFC 840 1 122.8 16.2 332.2 The dry-matter yield of IFC 8503 was IFC 8503 116.5 15.0 313.4 significantly higher than that of IFC 8401 UPC 8801 114.7 16.3 308.5 and EC 4216. There was a significant im- EC 4216 118.1 20.5 285.6 provement in dry-matter yield at 60 kg CD (P= 0.05) NS NS 26.9 P,O,/ha compared with the control. On pcr day production basis, the varieties IFC p,o, (kg/ha) 8503 and UPC 8801 performed better (a 0 113.1 15.3 300.7 mean yield of 493 kg green fodder or 59.3 30 120.4 18.5 317.4 kg dry matterlha) than EC 4216 cowpea. 60 120.5 17.2 311.7 A dose of 30 kg P,O,/ha is needed for fod- . CD(P = 0.05) NS NS NS der cowpea crop to obtain higher fodder yields.