DefinePK

Abstract

Background and Objective The problem caused by weeds are enormous and constitute a major constraint to crop production globally. Over the years, weed has contributed to the reducing in cowpea productivity either by releasing allelopathic compounds, providing a conducive environment for pest or competing for available soil nutrients. Therefore, the study examined the competition between the cowpea variety TVu-180 and selected local weeds abundant in a typical ultisol in Benin city, Nigeria. Materials and Methods There were 10 treatments and a control, namely Chrysopogon aciculatus WA, Eleusine indica WB, Cynodon dactylon WC, Axonopus compressus WD, Panicumn maximum WE, Setaria bartata WF, Sporobolus pyramidalis WG, Commelina benghalensis WH, Paspalum vaginatum WI, while WJ was a combination of all the weeds and control CTR. Three seeds of TVu-180 was sown into each bowl per-treatments, laid out in a Randomized Block Design RBD with three replications. Results From the results, the associated weeds delayed the first day of emergence in TVu-180 variety, however, there was no significant difference between the treatments and control. The emergent height of TVu-180 in WC, WE and WF were significantly higher than the TVu-180 variety in control. Weeds competitiveness with the TVu-180 variety resulted in a highly significant decrease in the plants dry weight either singly or holistically when compared with the control. The shoot length, stem width and leaflet area of the TVu-180 variety in WA were higher than those in the control. However, the no. of leaves were reduced in all treatments, there was no significant difference in between the TVu-180 variety in the WA treatment and control. Weed competitiveness resulted in the highest percentage of foliar foraging, chlorosis and necrosis in TVu-180 variety of WG and WC, respectively. From the regression plot, there was an inverse relationship between foliar chlorosis and percentage N, P and K in the soil while the correlation showed a significant positive relationship between foliar foraging and foliar chlorosis and necrosis respectively. Conclusion Weed competitiveness did not affect the emergence performance of the Tvu-180 variety, however, the variety was morphologically susceptible with a significant reduction in dry weight matter.