Effect of Supplementing Inorganic Fertilizer with Organic Fertilizer on Growth and Yield of Rice-Cowpea Mixed Crop

With the renewed interest in mixed cropping and the increasing awareness of environmental degradation arising from high chemical inputs, this experiment was conducted to assess the effect of supplementing inorganic with an organic fertilizer on the growth and yield of rice and cowpea under the mixed cropping system. Treatments comprised six sole crops and three mixed crops, each under 100% NPK (C), 50%NPK+ 50% cow dung (CCD) and cow dung alone (CD). The fertilizer treatments did not significantly affect cowpea performance. However, the number of panicles per hill and the number of spikelets per panicle of rice were higher under mixed cropping than under sole cropping. On the average, rice grain yield was significantly lower under the mixed cropping than under the sole cropping. The land equivalent ratios increased under all the fertilizer treatments indicating the efficiency of the mixed-cropping system. The results of the experiment suggest that rice- cowpea mixed cropping under CCD and CD is a viable production option.