ISSN: 2224-0616

Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. Tech. 12(1): 137-140, June 2022 Available online at https://ijarit.webs.com
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3329/ijarit.v12i1.61043 https://www.banglajol.info/index.php/IJARIT

Adaptability study of Cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L) Walp.] varieties in

Pastoral areas of South Omo Zone, Southern Ethiopia
Tekle Yoseph *
Received 04 February 2022, Revised 12 June 2022, Accepted 25 June 2022, Published online 30 June 2022
ABSTRACT
Field experiments were conducted on pastoral and agro-pastoral areas of South Omo Zone
at Dasenech, Hammer and Gynagatom woredas of South Omo Zone, Southern Ethiopia on
four cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L) Walp.] varieties in 2019 under irrigation. The objective
of the study was to select the best performing cowpea varieties in the target areas. The
cowpea varieties included in the field experiment were (Black eye bean, Bole, TVU, and
Kankeit). The experiments were carried out using a randomized complete block design
(RCBD) with three replications. The combined analysis of variance results depicted that
there were significant differences among the varieties for all the studied parameters except
the number of seeds per pod. The mean values for plant height ranged from 84.89 (cm) for
the variety Bole to 120.67 (cm) for TVU. The mean values for the number of pods per plant
ranged from 24.33 for the variety Bole to 46.90 for TVU. The mean value for 100 seeds
weight was maximum (21.11g) for the cowpea variety black eye bean and, while it was
minimum (17.11 g) for the variety TVU. The highest overall mean grain yield of 2457.0 kg ha-
1 was recorded for the variety Kankeit while the minimum 1695.3 kg ha-1 was noted for the

cowpea variety black eye bean. Therefore, the variety Kankeit and TVU could be
recommended for the study areas however further research should be done to put the
recommendation on a strong basis.
Keywords: Cowpea, Varieties, Yield components, Grain Yield

Southern Agricultural Research Institute, Crop Science Research Directorate, Jinka Agricultural Research
Center, Jinka, Ethiopia
*Corresponding author’s email: tekleyoseph486@gmail.com (Tekle Yoseph)

Cite this article as: Yoseph, T. 2022. Adaptability study of Cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L) Walp.] varieties in
Pastoral areas of South Omo Zone, Southern Ethiopia. Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. Tech. 12(1): 137-140.
https://doi.org/10.3329/ijarit.v12i1.61043

Introduction
potential to contribute to the alleviation of
Pulses have been acknowledged as a key source of malnutrition among resource-poor farmers and
proteins (20 to 35%) with essential minerals and can be used as animal feed and cash income. Its
vitamins (Fall et al., 2003; Girma et al., 2005). young leaves, pods and seeds contain vitamins
Cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.], is a and minerals, which have fuelled its usage for
dicotyledonous plant belonging to the family human consumption and animal feeding and the
Fabaceae and sub-family, Fabiodeae (Agbogidi, scorched seeds are occasionally used as a coffee
2010). substitute (Ogbemudia et al., 2010). As reported
Cowpea is a multipurpose crop; the entire plant by Ayana et al. (2013) integration of cowpea with
can be used for either human or livestock the prevailing farming system using native
consumption. Its major importance is to the cowpea variety could have significant importance
livelihoods of millions of relatively poor people in in improving soil fertility and productivity,
less developed countries of the tropics. As improving feed quality and withstands the impact
suggested by Islam et al. (2006), all parts of the of climate change.
plant are used as food, which is nutritious It is an annual legume grown throughout the
providing protein and vitamins. Immature pods semi-arid tropics, where it is valued and potential
and seeds are used as vegetables while several to produce high levels of fodder for livestock in
snacks and main dishes are prepared from the addition to grain for people. Its dual-purpose
grains (Pottorff et al., 2012). Cowpea grain character, weeds suppressing ability, positive
contains about 25% protein and 64% impact on soil properties, drought tolerance and
carbohydrate and therefore has a tremendous

International Journal of Agricultural Research Innovation & Technology An open access article under
Yoseph (2022) Adaptability study of cowpea varieties in pastoral areas of Southern Ethiopia

being a warm-weather crop makes cowpea an Data analysis

attractive and promising forage species in a
All the agronomic data were recorded and being
typical tropical lowland climate. It is usually
subjected to analysis using the R statistical
better adapted to drought, high temperatures and Software Version 3.4.1. Effects were considered
other biotic stresses than other crop plant species significant in all statistical calculations if the P-
(Hall et al., 2002; Tessema and Eshetayehu, values were < 0.05. Means were separated using
2006). Fisher’s least significant difference (LSD) test.
Drought stress related to climate change is a Results and Discussion
more challenge for enhancing agricultural
productivity for resource-poor farmers. Cowpea According to the combined analysis of variance
is one of the dry land grain legumes for results, there were significant differences
overcoming drought-related problems. Therefore, observed among the cowpea varieties for plant
there is a need to introduce these improved height, pods per plant, 100 seed weight and grain
cowpea varieties to moisture stress areas of the yield but no significant difference was observed
South Omo Zone under irrigation. among the varieties for the number of seeds per
pod (Table 1). This finding is in agreement with
Materials and Methods the previous works of Tekle (2014); Gereziher et
al. (2018) who reported that there were
Description of the study area significant variations observed among the cowpea
varieties for yield and yield-related traits.
The adaptive research was implemented in
Dasenech, Hammer, and Nyangatom woredas of Pant height ranged from 69 (cm) for the variety
South Omo zone, Southern Nations, Bole at Dasenech to 159 (cm) for the variety TVU
Nationalities, and Peoples Regional State. at Gynagatom (Table 3). The results revealed that
Geographically, these three administrative the mean values for plant height ranged from
districts are found in the southwestern part of 84.89 (cm) for the variety Bole to 120.67 (cm) for
Ethiopia, located at about 981, 801, and 971 TVU across locations (Table 2). The maximum
Kilometers, respectively from the capital (Addis number of pods per plant (69) was recorded for
Ababa). Astronomically, Dasenech woreda the variety TVU at Gnangatom, while the
(administrative district) found lying between minimum (21) was noted for the variety Bole at
4°37′–4°48′ N latitude and 35°56′–36°20′ E Hammer (Table 3). The combined analysis of
longitude, Hammer between 4°25′–5°30′ N variance results depicted that the mean values for
latitude and 36°5′–36°59′ E longitude and the number of pods per plant ranged from
Nyangatom between 5°05′–5°21′ North latitude (24.33) for the variety Bole to (46.90) for the
variety TVU (Table 2). Though no significant
and 35°55′–36°14′ East longitude, respectively.
differences were observed among the varieties for
The altitude of the areas varies between 353 the number of seeds per pod, the maximum
m.a.s.l and 606 m.a.s.l for Dasenech, 371 m.a.s.l. number of seeds per pod (20) was obtained for
and 2084 m.a.s.l for Hammer and 380 m.a.s.l the variety Kankeit at Dasenech, while the
and 497 m.a.s.l for Nyangatom district, minimum (14) was recorded from the variety
respectively. Bole at Gnangatom (Table 3). The combined
Treatments and experimental design analysis of variance result depicted that the mean
values for the number of seeds per pod ranged
The experiment consisted of four improved from (16.67) for the variety Bole to (17.89) for the
cowpea varieties with a total of 12 plots. The field varieties Kankeit and TVU (Table 3). The values
experiment was laid out in a randomized for 100 seed weight in gram (g) ranged from (9)
complete block design (RCBD) with three for the variety TVU at Gnangatom to (26) for the
replications. Cowpea was sown in ten rows per variety Kankeit at Dasenech. The results also
plot with a spacing of 60 cm between rows and showed that the overall mean values for the
20 cm between plants within a row with a gross hundred seed weight ranged from 17.11 (g) for the
plot area of (6 m x 5 m= 30 m2). variety TVU to 21.11 (g) for the variety black eye
bean (Table 3).
Data collection
The combined analysis of variance results
Grain yield revealed that there were significant differences
observed among the cowpea varieties for grain
Six central rows (5.0 m x 3.6 m = 18 m2) were yield (Table 1). The combined analysis of variance
harvested for the determination of grain yield. results showed that the overall mean values for
Grain yield was adjusted to 12.5% moisture grain yield ranged from 1695.3 kg ha-1 for the
content. Ten plants were randomly selected from variety black eye bean to 2457.0 kg ha-1 for the
the six central rows to determine yield and yield variety Kankeit (Table 2). The values for grain
components, which consisted of plant height, yield ranged from 1485 kg ha-1 for the variety
number of pods per plant, and number of seeds black eye bean at Hammer to 2587 kg ha-1 for the
per pod. variety Kankeit at Dasenech (Table 3).

Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. Tech. 12(1): 137-140, June 2022 138
Yoseph (2022) Adaptability study of cowpea varieties in pastoral areas of Southern Ethiopia

Table 1. Mean square values for growth parameters, yield components and grain yield of cowpea at
south omo zone in 2019.
Source of DF PH PPP SPP HSW GY
Variations
Rep 2 529.08* 206.18* 0.03* 0.58* 28300*
Variety 3 2456.11** 935.08*** 3.29ns 32.18** 929740***
Location 2 27.33 ns 56.78ns 0.03ns 0.25ns 25871ns
Location x 6 214.11ns 44.93ns 1.88ns 2.51ns 26498ns
Variety
Error 22 392.51 56.67 6.15 5.79 84595
Note: *, ** and *** indicate significance at P < 0.05, P < 0.01 and P < 0.001, respectively and 'ns' indicate non-
significant, DF= degree of freedom, PH= plant height (cm), PPP= the number of pods per plant, SPP= the
number of seeds per pod, HSW= 100 seeds weight (g) GY= Grain Yield (kg ha -1).
Table 2. combined results of mean values of growth parameters, yield components and grain yield of
cowpea varieties at south omo zone, in 2019.
Varieties PH PPP SPP HSW GY
Cankeit 118.89a 27.01b 17.89a 20.22ab 2457.0a
TVU 120.67a 46.90a 17.89a 17.11b 2042.0b
Bole 84.89b 24.33b 16.67a 17.89b 1905.3b
BEB 110.89a 29.54b 17.11a 21.11a 1695.3b
Mean 108.83 31.95 17.39 19.08 2024.9
CV (%) 18.20 23.56 14.26 12.62 14.36
LSD (0.05) 25.94 9.86 3.25 3.15 380.79
Note: PH= plant height (cm), PPP= number of pods per plant, SPP= number of seeds per pod, TSW= 1000
seeds weight (g), GY= Grain Yield (kg ha-1).
Table 3. Mean values for the studied yield and yield component traits of four cowpea varieties at
dasenech, hammer and gynagatom, south omo zone in 2019.
Variety PH (cm) PPP SPP HSW (g) GY (kg ha-1)
Location Location Location Location Location
Gynagatom

Gynagatom

Gynagatom

Gynagatom

Gynagatom
Dasenech

Dasenech

Dasenech

Dasenech

Dasenech
Hammer

Hammer

Hammer

Hammer

Hammer
Mean

Mean

Mean

Mean

Mean
Cankeit 102 103 147 134 49 26 27 34 20 21 16 19 21 26 13 20 2443 2587 2094 2375
TVU 110 103 159 135 32 23 63.3 39 18 18 20 19 17 16 9 14 1781 2361 2110 2084
Bole 69 91 86 91 26 21 21.7 23 16 16 14 16 22 19 17 19 1776 1552 2143 1824
BEB 102 103 119 115 21 22 51.7 31 15 15 19 16 21 20 18 20 1641 1795 1485 1640
CV (%) 7 8 15 16 19 13 5.6 12 11 10 13 11 4 14 15 11 17 17 13 16
LSD(0.05) 11 16 38 25 10 6 4.6 7 NS NS NS NS 1 6 2 3 544 702 495 580

Note: PH= plant height (cm), PPP= number of pods per plant, SPP= 1number of seeds per pod, HSW= 100 seed
weight (g), GY= grain yield (kg ha-1).

Summary and Recommendation work is initiated to investigate the impact of

improved varieties on the performance of
Production of cowpea by introducing the cowpea.
improved and high yielding varieties is an
important contribution to increase agricultural A study on variety was conducted at Dasenech,
production and productivity in areas like Gyngatom, and Hammer under irrigated
Dasenech, Gyngatom and Hammer woredas conditions in 2019. The objective of the study was
where there is the low practice of using improved to select the best performing varieties that will
varieties of cowpea. To this end, using the improve cowpea production. The experiment was
improved cowpea varieties could be one of the carried out using the randomized complete block
alternatives to improve productivity by small design (RCBD) with three replications at
farmers. However, the production of cowpea Dasenech, Gyngatom and Hammer under
using the improved varieties is not yet introduced irrigated conditions in 2019. The treatments
and studied in the target area. Thus, this research involved in this experiment were four improved

Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. Tech. 12(1): 137-140, June 2022 139
Yoseph (2022) Adaptability study of cowpea varieties in pastoral areas of Southern Ethiopia

cowpea varieties. The results of the analysis of Lowlands, Ethiopia. Int. J. Plant Breed.
variance showed that all the studied were Crop Sci. 5(2): 398-402.
significantly affected by varieties. In this study, Girma, A., Hattar, B., Adel-Rahman, M. and
there were significant variations observed among Tawaha, A. 2005. Nutrient availability as
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The highest overall mean grain yield of 2457.0 kg Hall, A.E., Ismail, A.M., Ehlers, J.D., Marfo, K.O.,
ha-1 and 2042.0 kg ha-1 were recorded for the Cisse, N., Thiaw, S. and Close, T.J. 2002.
varieties Cankeit and TVU, respectively while the Breeding cowpeas for tolerance to
minimum 1695.3 kg ha-1 was noted for the temperature extremes and adaptation to
cowpea variety black eye bean. Therefore, the drought. Challenges and opportunities for
cowpea variety Kankeit and TVU could be enhancing sustainable cowpea production.
recommended for the study areas however International Institute of Tropical
further research should be done to put the Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria. pp. 14-21.
recommendation on a strong basis. Islam, S., Cowmen, R.C. and Ganer, J.O. 2006.
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This experiment was conducted by financial five cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.]
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