Development and characterization of biomass production functions in cowpea cultivars: I. Destructive method

Abstract

Five cowpea cultivars were assessed to obtain biomass production functions using a destructive method. The study was carried out in the Carrizal valley in La Paz, Baja California Sur, México (23° 20' 47" LN and 110° 16' 14" LW). The experimental design was a completely randomized block with four replications. Data were analyzed by canonical multivariate methods for characterization, while correlation and multiple linear regression were carried out for generation of production functions of green (GMP) and dry matter (DMP), and variance analysis and means comparison (Tukey P=0.05) were performed for all variables. Most variables, except GMP, showed significant differences between cultivars (P<0.05). Similar results were observed for all variables due to block effect. The best GMP function was obtained in cultivar 23 (IT91K-118-20) with a determination coefficient (R2) of 0.94, while a statistically significant function for DMP was obtained in cultivars 18 (IT90K-277-2) and 1 (PaceÅ„,,o) with a R2 of 0.91, being plant height, leaf area, number of primary branches, number of secondary branches, root length, root fresh weight, root dry weight and number of nodules the variables included in the GMP and DMP functions. As a conclusion, for the pre-flowering stage, leaf area (LA) is the variable with a consistent role in green and dry matter production.