Efficacy of bio-fertilizers and chemical fertilizers on growth and yield of cowpea varieties

Cowpea is valued for its nutrition and nitrogen-fixing ability, and investigating bio-fertilizers offers a sustainable way to enhance cowpea growth and yield. A field experiment was conducted from February to June 2022 in the Nawalparasi West, Nepal, to investigate the impact of different fertilizer...

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Main Authors: Nabin Gautam, Sudip Ghimire, Sagar Kafle, Baishali Dawadi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Maximum Academic Press 2024-01-01
Series:Technology in Agronomy
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Online Access:https://www.maxapress.com/article/doi/10.48130/tia-0024-0004
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author Nabin Gautam
Sudip Ghimire
Sagar Kafle
Baishali Dawadi
author_facet Nabin Gautam
Sudip Ghimire
Sagar Kafle
Baishali Dawadi
author_sort Nabin Gautam
collection DOAJ
description Cowpea is valued for its nutrition and nitrogen-fixing ability, and investigating bio-fertilizers offers a sustainable way to enhance cowpea growth and yield. A field experiment was conducted from February to June 2022 in the Nawalparasi West, Nepal, to investigate the impact of different fertilizers, including bio-fertilizers and chemical fertilizers, on the growth parameters and yield of cowpea varieties. Employing a double factorial Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD), the experiment considered two factors: cowpea varieties (Malepatan-1 and Stickless) and fertilizers (control, mycorrhizal, rhizobia, recommended dose of chemical fertilizer (RDF), mycorrhizal + rhizobia, and mycorrhiza + rhizobium + RDF). Malepatan-1 exhibited superior growth and yield compared to Stickless, with higher plant height (125.73 cm), seed weight plant−1 (72.29 g), thousand grain weight (151.62 g), and yield ha−1 (3,536.83 kg ha−1). While the application of rhizobia + mycorrhiza and chemical fertilizers increased various growth parameters, mycorrhiza + rhizobium showed comparable results in terms of yield (4,321.41 kg ha−1) and thousand grain weight (167.19 g) compared to the combination of the former (4,714.26 kg ha−1 and 176.83 g, respectively). Moreover, mycorrhiza + rhizobium demonstrated a higher benefit-cost ratio (3.76), making it economically and environmentally preferable to biofertilizers with chemicals. The study recommends mycorrhiza + rhizobium for its comparable yield, superior economic returns, and environmental sustainability over biofertilizers combined with chemicals. For maximizing economic and sustainable production, the study suggests using the Malepatan-1 cowpea variety with biofertilizers, excluding chemical (inorganic) fertilizers.
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spelling doaj-art-5c511b4e2a1742bd908e6dbb4eca1a692025-08-20T03:18:30ZengMaximum Academic PressTechnology in Agronomy2835-94452024-01-01411910.48130/tia-0024-0004tia-0024-0004Efficacy of bio-fertilizers and chemical fertilizers on growth and yield of cowpea varietiesNabin Gautam0Sudip Ghimire1Sagar Kafle2Baishali Dawadi3Faculty of Agriculture (FOA), Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Chitwan, NepalFaculty of Agriculture (FOA), Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Chitwan, NepalFaculty of Agriculture (FOA), Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Chitwan, NepalFaculty of Agriculture (FOA), Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Chitwan, NepalCowpea is valued for its nutrition and nitrogen-fixing ability, and investigating bio-fertilizers offers a sustainable way to enhance cowpea growth and yield. A field experiment was conducted from February to June 2022 in the Nawalparasi West, Nepal, to investigate the impact of different fertilizers, including bio-fertilizers and chemical fertilizers, on the growth parameters and yield of cowpea varieties. Employing a double factorial Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD), the experiment considered two factors: cowpea varieties (Malepatan-1 and Stickless) and fertilizers (control, mycorrhizal, rhizobia, recommended dose of chemical fertilizer (RDF), mycorrhizal + rhizobia, and mycorrhiza + rhizobium + RDF). Malepatan-1 exhibited superior growth and yield compared to Stickless, with higher plant height (125.73 cm), seed weight plant−1 (72.29 g), thousand grain weight (151.62 g), and yield ha−1 (3,536.83 kg ha−1). While the application of rhizobia + mycorrhiza and chemical fertilizers increased various growth parameters, mycorrhiza + rhizobium showed comparable results in terms of yield (4,321.41 kg ha−1) and thousand grain weight (167.19 g) compared to the combination of the former (4,714.26 kg ha−1 and 176.83 g, respectively). Moreover, mycorrhiza + rhizobium demonstrated a higher benefit-cost ratio (3.76), making it economically and environmentally preferable to biofertilizers with chemicals. The study recommends mycorrhiza + rhizobium for its comparable yield, superior economic returns, and environmental sustainability over biofertilizers combined with chemicals. For maximizing economic and sustainable production, the study suggests using the Malepatan-1 cowpea variety with biofertilizers, excluding chemical (inorganic) fertilizers.https://www.maxapress.com/article/doi/10.48130/tia-0024-0004arbuscular mycorrhizal fungibio-fertilizerscowpeaintegrated nutrient managementrhizobium
spellingShingle Nabin Gautam
Sudip Ghimire
Sagar Kafle
Baishali Dawadi
Efficacy of bio-fertilizers and chemical fertilizers on growth and yield of cowpea varieties
Technology in Agronomy
arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
bio-fertilizers
cowpea
integrated nutrient management
rhizobium
title Efficacy of bio-fertilizers and chemical fertilizers on growth and yield of cowpea varieties
title_full Efficacy of bio-fertilizers and chemical fertilizers on growth and yield of cowpea varieties
title_fullStr Efficacy of bio-fertilizers and chemical fertilizers on growth and yield of cowpea varieties
title_full_unstemmed Efficacy of bio-fertilizers and chemical fertilizers on growth and yield of cowpea varieties
title_short Efficacy of bio-fertilizers and chemical fertilizers on growth and yield of cowpea varieties
title_sort efficacy of bio fertilizers and chemical fertilizers on growth and yield of cowpea varieties
topic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
bio-fertilizers
cowpea
integrated nutrient management
rhizobium
url https://www.maxapress.com/article/doi/10.48130/tia-0024-0004
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AT sagarkafle efficacyofbiofertilizersandchemicalfertilizersongrowthandyieldofcowpeavarieties
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