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Establishing Nutrient Efficient Hydroponic Protocol for Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) Evaluations at Seedling Stage
(2016-02) Aliyu, R.E; Adamu, A.K; Musa, H.; Abba, G.J.
Hydroponic growth systems are a convenient platform for studying whole plant physiology. Major yield loss in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) can be attributed to biotic and abiotic stresses. A cost effective and time saving screening protocol for cowpea abiotic stresses will enhance and expedite research on cowpea by breeders thereby enhancing its production and availability to meet increasing demand and population rise. Two nutrient formulations (NFZ1 and NFZ2) and a control were evaluated upon considerations of cowpea (16 varieties) growth requirement on soil. These treatments consisted of variations of the combinations of N-P-K fertilizers, FeSO4 and ZnSO4. Seedling biometrics after 30 days in hydroponics indicated that NFZ2 induced greater seedling performance than NFZ1. This increase in growth rate ranged from 12.83% to 65.24% adopting the NFZ2 protocol in slow and fast growing varieties, respectively with an average growth rate of 46.35%. Therefore, this protocol is recommended where fast screening for cowpea is desired in evaluations for breeding purposes