Evaluation of Grain Yield of Two Varieties of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) Subjected to Four Agricultural Practices in Gùrué District, Mozambique

To evaluate the effect of four agricultural practices on grain yield, two varieties (IT-16 and IT-18) of cowpeas were tested in the agricultural year 2016/2017 an experimental field where the following agricultural practices were tested: tillage, tillage + mulch, zero tillage and zero tillage + mulch. The randomized complete blocks design, a scheme consisting of two factors: agronomic practices and varieties was used. The plant height, number of pods per plant, weight of 100 seeds and grain yield in kg ha-1 were considered as parameters for analysis. From the results, it was concluded that for the yield of grain of different varieties under study, the variety IT-18 subjected to zero tillage + mulch and the variety IT-16 subjected to tillage had better performance achieving 2600.00 kg ha-1 and 1725.00 kg ha-1 respectively; therefore, recommended to the farmers.