last final thesis of umer

4.3.3. Effect on yield and yield related parameters of cowpea
Number of pods per plant
The analysis of variance showed that number of pods per plant were highly significantly (P˂0.01)
affected by cowpea densities and varieties but not their interaction (Appendix Table 6). It was also
significantly (P˂0.05) affected by cropping system. The highest number of pods per plant (13.67)
was recorded from 50% cowpea population while the lowest number of pods per plant (10.78) was
obtained from 100% cowpea population though it was not statically different from 75% cowpea
population (Table 14). The decrease in number of pods per plant at higher plant density might be
due to increased inter and intraspecific competition for growth resources, which might have led to
reduced number of effective branches. The higher pods per plant at 50% cowpea population might
also be due to the lower cowpea population and the lower maize competition due to the greater
distance between cowpea plants that might have provided a better soil resource condition with
higher light availability for cowpea plants. This result was in agreement with Biruk (2007) who
reported decreased number of pods per plant in sorghum/common bean intercropping as an
increase in planting density. Similarly, Luiz and Robert (2003) reported that increasing bean
population in maize/bean intercropping, significantly decreased the number of pods per bean plant.
With regards to variety, the highest number of pods per plant (14.89) was obtained for variety
Kenketi while variety Black eye bean had the lowest (10.67) though it was not significantly
different from Bole (Table 14). Alemayehu et al. (2018) reported significant difference among the
intercropped common bean varieties on number of pod per plant in maize/common bean
intercropping. This could be probably the genetic difference among the different varieties of
cowpea.
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