Evaluation of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) Varieties on Growth and Yield Indices in Sudan Savannah Ecological Zone of Nigeria

Field trial was conducted during 2022 wet season at Audu Bako College of Agriculture Dambatta’s irrigation research site Thomas in Sudan Savannah zone of Nigeria (11058’N, 80 250E and 475m above sea level). Dambatta Local Government within Kano State has uni-modal seasonal rainfall in a year and the average mean annual rainfall of Dambatta and average mean daily temperature were (752.9 mm), annual temperature ranges between (26.2 - 31oC), The soil of Dambatta site was sandy loam of pH 6.2, Organic matter content 3.93 gkg-1, total nitrogen 0.98 g kg-1 and available phosphorus 16.7 mg kg-1. All agronomic operations were conducted according to the experimental treatments. The experimental design consisted of three different cowpea varieties (V1, V2 and V3) which were laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with intra and inter row spacing of 25 cm by 75 cm on ridges and replicated three times. The three experimental cowpea seeds used for the trial consisted of two improved cowpea varieties (V1 – IT89KD-288, V2 – IT90K-277-2 and Local variety V3 (gamagari). Local variety V3 – (gama-gari) produced significantly the tallest average mean plant height at 6, 8 WAS and at harvest followed by variety V2 – IT90K-277-2, whereas variety V1 – IT89KD-288 had the lowest average mean plant height value compared to the rest. The highest average mean value obtained from variety V3 – local (gama-gari) led it to acquire the highest number of leaves and branches resulted to significantly highest fodder yield at the expense of grains yield per hectare. V2 – IT90K-277-2 variety having the highest average grain yield value of 1,357.44 kg / ha followed by variety V1 – IT89KD-288 with an average grain yield of 1,016.56 kg / ha.and local variety V3 – (gama-gari) had the least average mean yield value of 840.17 respectively. Variety V2 – IT90K-277-2was significantly different and better than rest of the varieties (V1 – IT89KD-288 and V3 – local (gama-gari) whereas V3 – local variety(gama-gari) being the least in terms of number of grains, grains weight per pod, 100 grain weight and grain yield per variety. With references to the above research findings, it is recommended that variety V2 – IT90K-277-2 had obtained a significantly highest average grain yield value of 1,357.44 kg ha-1 with very good performance and was statistically significant than the rest (V1 – IT89KD-288 and V3 – local (gama-gari). Therefore, variety V2 – IT90K-277-2 is recommended in the study area and could persistently be adopted for cultivation as it gave the highest grain yield pending to further research findings.