AGRONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF SEMI-DIRECT AND SEMI-STRAIGHT COWPEA IN DIFFERENT POPULATIONS

Abstract

The plant population is a factor that is under the control of the producer and significantly interferes with grain yield in any crop. Determining the ideal population that provides maximum performance for each cultivar is important to obtain optimal grain production. The objective of this work was to evaluate the agronomic performance of two semi-erect and semi-prostrate cowpea cultivars in different populations. The experiment was conducted in a 2x4 factorial design (cultivars and plant populations). The design was in randomized blocks, with four replications. Four plant populations were evaluated: 120, 160, 200 and 240 thousand plants ha^-1. The evaluated characteristics were: height of plants, length of pods, number of grains per pod, grain yield and dry matter of the aerial part. The plant populations evaluated influenced only the grain yield. The BRS Marataoã cultivar, of semi-prostrate size, showed a higher number of grains per pod, plant height and grain yield. The population that provides the highest grain yield is close to 160 thousand plants ha^-1.