Dual-purpose cowpea for West Africa

Cowpea (Pzgna unguiculata) is grown as an intercrop with cereals in some 9 M ha of West Africa, mostly in the dry savanna. Though grain yields are low (circa 500 kg/ha), it is a nutritious food and dry season fodder. The haulms (leaves and stems) are cut and stored after grain harvest. Cowpea aids s...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Tarawali, Shirley A., Okike, Iheanacho, Kristjanson, Patricia M., Singh, B.B.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2005
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/27799
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author Tarawali, Shirley A.
Okike, Iheanacho
Kristjanson, Patricia M.
Singh, B.B.
author_browse Kristjanson, Patricia M.
Okike, Iheanacho
Singh, B.B.
Tarawali, Shirley A.
author_facet Tarawali, Shirley A.
Okike, Iheanacho
Kristjanson, Patricia M.
Singh, B.B.
author_sort Tarawali, Shirley A.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Cowpea (Pzgna unguiculata) is grown as an intercrop with cereals in some 9 M ha of West Africa, mostly in the dry savanna. Though grain yields are low (circa 500 kg/ha), it is a nutritious food and dry season fodder. The haulms (leaves and stems) are cut and stored after grain harvest. Cowpea aids soil fertility by fixing soil N and returning N via manure from ruminants fed with haulms. Up to the early 1990s, research had focused on developing high grain yielding varieties. Recognition of farmers' appreciation of multiple uses, in particular the fodder value and the increasing importance of crop residues as feed resources in much of West Africa, where expansion of agricultural land and intensification mean reduced availability of land for planted forages, led to joint research by ILRI and IITA from 1994, which identified "dual purpose" varieties with the potential to provide both good grain yields and quality fodder under farmer conditions. Taking account of the heterogeneity in terms of market access and population density, two factors likely to influence adoption of dual purpose cowpea, this study estimated that, of the 9 M ha of cowpea, dual purpose varieties could be adopted on a consolidated area of 1.4 M ha of West Africa and potentially benefit 9.3 M people. Dual purpose cowpea varieties enable farmers with little land to obtain human food and livestock feed from the same area. Cowpea has also other economic, ecological and social benefits.
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spelling CGSpace277992025-11-12T04:24:52Z Dual-purpose cowpea for West Africa Tarawali, Shirley A. Okike, Iheanacho Kristjanson, Patricia M. Singh, B.B. cowpeas multipurpose breeds nitrogen fixation yields crop residues research Cowpea (Pzgna unguiculata) is grown as an intercrop with cereals in some 9 M ha of West Africa, mostly in the dry savanna. Though grain yields are low (circa 500 kg/ha), it is a nutritious food and dry season fodder. The haulms (leaves and stems) are cut and stored after grain harvest. Cowpea aids soil fertility by fixing soil N and returning N via manure from ruminants fed with haulms. Up to the early 1990s, research had focused on developing high grain yielding varieties. Recognition of farmers' appreciation of multiple uses, in particular the fodder value and the increasing importance of crop residues as feed resources in much of West Africa, where expansion of agricultural land and intensification mean reduced availability of land for planted forages, led to joint research by ILRI and IITA from 1994, which identified "dual purpose" varieties with the potential to provide both good grain yields and quality fodder under farmer conditions. Taking account of the heterogeneity in terms of market access and population density, two factors likely to influence adoption of dual purpose cowpea, this study estimated that, of the 9 M ha of cowpea, dual purpose varieties could be adopted on a consolidated area of 1.4 M ha of West Africa and potentially benefit 9.3 M people. Dual purpose cowpea varieties enable farmers with little land to obtain human food and livestock feed from the same area. Cowpea has also other economic, ecological and social benefits. 2005 2013-04-03T11:37:56Z 2013-04-03T11:37:56Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/27799 en Open Access application/pdf Tropical Grasslands;39(4): 210
spellingShingle cowpeas
multipurpose breeds
nitrogen fixation
yields
crop residues
research
Tarawali, Shirley A.
Okike, Iheanacho
Kristjanson, Patricia M.
Singh, B.B.
Dual-purpose cowpea for West Africa
title Dual-purpose cowpea for West Africa
title_full Dual-purpose cowpea for West Africa
title_fullStr Dual-purpose cowpea for West Africa
title_full_unstemmed Dual-purpose cowpea for West Africa
title_short Dual-purpose cowpea for West Africa
title_sort dual purpose cowpea for west africa
topic cowpeas
multipurpose breeds
nitrogen fixation
yields
crop residues
research
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/27799
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AT okikeiheanacho dualpurposecowpeaforwestafrica
AT kristjansonpatriciam dualpurposecowpeaforwestafrica
AT singhbb dualpurposecowpeaforwestafrica