POPULATION DENSITY ON COWPEA CULTIVARS WITH DIFFERENT GROWTH HABITS IN THE MATOPIBA REGION

• Autor(a) principal: Cardoso, Milton José
• Data de Publicação: 2017
• Outros Autores: Melo, Francisco de Brito, Ribeiro, Valdenir Queiroz
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista Caatinga
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.ufersa.edu.br/caatinga/article/view/6392
• topic: Plant architecture. Cultivar. Vigna unguiculata.; Arranjo de plantas. Cultivar. Vigna unguiculata.

The aim of this study was to assess the productive performance of cowpea cultivars with different growth habits as a function of population density in the MATOPIBA region, Brazil. The experiments were carried out in Magalhães de Almeida, MA in the agricultural season 2014/2015. The cultivars BRS Itaim, BRS Tumucumaque, and BRS Pajeú, which present an erect, semi-erect, and semi-prostrate growth habits, respectively, were assessed. For the erect and semi-erect cultivars, a total of 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, and 28 plants m−2 were used whereas for the semi-prostrate cultivar, a total of 2, 6, 10, 14, 18, and 22 plants m−2 were used. The experimental design was a randomized block design with four replications and treatments composed of plant densities. Grain yield and number of pods per area presented a quadratic response to the increased plant density whereas a decreasing linear response was observed for the number of pods per plant. The maximum grain yield of erect, semi-erect, and semi-prostrate cultivars were 1,076 kg ha−1 (19.5 plants m−2), 1,252 kg ha−1 (18.7 plants m−2), and 755 kg ha−1 (14.5 plants m−2), respectively. The number of pods per area was the character that most correlated (P