INFLUENCE OF MAIZE–COWPEA INTERCROPPING ON YIELD COMPONENTS AND PRODUCTIVITY OF IMPROVED COWPEA (VIGNA UNGUICULATA L. WALP) BREEDING LINES IN MAKURDI, NIGERIA 0 0
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.83374/jesber.vol1no2.71Keywords:
Cowpea, maize–cowpea intercropping, breeding lines, grain yield, yield components, Southern Guinea SavannaAbstract
Maize–cowpea intercropping is widely practiced by smallholder farmers in the Southern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria, yet the performance of cowpea breeding materials under interspecific competition can differ substantially. This study evaluated seven cowpea breeding lines under sole-crop and maize–cowpea relay-intercrop conditions at the College of Agronomy Teaching and Research Farm, University of Agriculture, Makurdi, during the 2024 cropping season. The experiment was a 2 × 7 factorial arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The factors were cropping system (sole cowpea and maize–cowpea relay intercrop) and cowpea breeding line. Data were collected on phenological traits, yield components, cowpea grain yield and maize grain yield. Analysis of variance showed significant effects of cropping system and/or genotype for several cowpea traits, while the genotype × cropping-system interaction was significant for cowpea grain yield and dry fodder yield. Mean cowpea grain yield was 1,497.82 kg ha⁻¹ under sole cropping and 946.38 kg ha⁻¹ under intercropping. Across genotype × cropping-system combinations, UAM14-123-18-3 produced the highest grain yield under both sole (1,971.21 kg ha⁻¹) and intercrop (1,324.08 kg ha⁻¹) conditions. Percentage yield reduction varied from 23.1% in IT89KD-288 to 57.7% in UAM14-126-19-2, showing that yield reduction alone should not be used as a proxy for intercropping performance because low absolute yield can coexist with a small proportional reduction. The results identify UAM14-123-18-3 as the strongest overall performer in the tested environment and support further multi-location and on-farm evaluation of promising lines under maize-based intercropping.Downloads
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