12.
Special Notes Zero or IDinimum tillage:
Cowpeas can be successfully grown without much tillage by making use of appropriate herbicides .
Zero or minimum tillage may be desirable when
growing cowpeas in rice fallows or in forest zone where rainfall is heavy and causes soil erosion!
The field should be first sprayed with Paraquat
at the rate of 5 litres/ha to kill all the previous vegetation.
About
a week later, the dead weeds should be mowed or slashed and the field planted with cowpeh.
Planting can be done manually or mechanically using rolling
injection planters or tractor drawn cone planters. cide 'is applied within 2 days after planting.
A pre-emergence herbi-
Any of the herbicides
mentioned before can be used in combination with a low dose of paraquat (2-3 litres/ha).
This ensures killing of all weed seeds which germinated
after first paraquat application and checks subsequent germination of weeds.
If properly done, this ensures a clean field for up to 4 weeks
after which a minor weed i ng may be required.
Subseq uent care of cowpeas
is same as described earlier. Cowpeas in rice fallows:
Rice is cultivated throughout the tropics as a rainfed crop.
In most areas
sufficient residual moisture remains in soil after harvesting of rice, particularly in low lying fields to permit the
~rowing
of a successful
crop of '50-day' cowpeas . Our observations indicate that if soil moisture at the time of paddy harvest is enough for normal cowpea germination, then it is enough for the entire cowpea crop.
This is because