Describe briefly the production of cowpea under the following headings; (a) land preparation; (b) planting; (c) fertilizer application; (d) weeding; (e) harvesting; (f) processing; (g) storage.
Explanation
Description of production of cowpea in relation to:. (a) Land Preparation:- This involves: (1) Clearing (ii) Packing the trash (iii) Weed-row burning (iv) Stumping (v) Ploughing (vi) Harrowing (vii) Ridging.
(b) Planting: This include: (i) Seed dressing with chemicals. (ii) it can be mechanised or manual. (iii) the seeds rate depends on the variety ( 20 - 25 kg/ha) (iv) Spacing also depends on varieties ( spreading 25 x 90 cm, erect: 30 x 75 cm). (v) early and late planting are in April and August respectively (in South, early April; Late August September) (in north - late July - August). (vi) it involves direct planting on the field (vii) Planting depth is 2 - 4 cm. (viii) Planting rate is 2 - 3seeds per hole.
(c) Fertilizer Application: (1) Apply phoshpatic fertilizer for nodulation and pod formation. (ii) can be applied during land preparation or at planting (iii) the rate of application is 250 kg or 5 bags/ ha.
(d) Weeding: (i) is one manually on a small scale. (ii) Herbicides can be applied on commercial scale. (iii) it is usually carried out once or twice before the plant spreads fully,
(e) Harvesting: (i) Early maturing varieties are harvested three months after planting, (ii) Late maturing varieties are harvested after four months (iii) mature dry pods should be harvested before shattering. (iv) Harvesting is done by and picking.
(f) Processing: (i) Shelling is done by beating the drying pods with sticks or by pounding lightly in a mortar on a small scale; (ii) Shellers are used on a large scale. (iii) Winnowing is carried out whereby broken shells r pods are removed from the beans. (iv) extraneous matter like stones should be removed.
(g) Storage: (i) ensure proper drying before storage. (ii) Shelled beans are treated with insecticides before storage to prevent weevil attack. (iii) Shelled seeds are stored in bags or rhumbus on a small scale. (iv) Storage is done in silos on large scale. (v) hermatic storage in air - tight containers is also acceptable.