Effect of Zinc Fertilization on Nutritional Quality of Cowpea Cultivars

Abstract

Background: The improvement in livestock productivity may be possible by availing better quality fodder in adequate quantity to thedairy farmers. Zinc deficiency might be a major factor for lower quality fodder of cowpea. Methods: The experiment was laid out in factorial randomized block design; comprised of three cowpea cultivars viz., C-152, MFC-08-14 and MFC-09-1 and five zinc management practices viz., control; 10 kg ZnSO4 as basal; 20 kg ZnSO4 as basal; 0.5% ZnSO4 asfoliar spray at 20 DAS; 0.5% ZnSO4 as foliar spray at 20 and 40 DAS. Result: Results revealed that C-152 showed significantly better quality in terms of higher dry matter, crude protein and total ash; andlower acid insoluble ash, neutral detergent fibre, acid detergent fibre and acid detergent lignin amongst all the three varieties. Though,remarkably higher ether extract was obtained with MFC-08-14. Among the zinc management practices, 20 kg ZnSO4as basal (Zn3)and foliar application of 0.5% ZnSO4 at 20 and 40 DAS (Zn5) recorded significant improvement in fodder yield and quality traits of cowpea.