FAS Abstracts 2004 Meeting Page

Agricultural Sciences (AGR): AGR-3

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Sweet corn (Zea mays L.) yield affected by Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) mulch.  B.Y. BRACHO, R.N. GALLAHER, and R. MCSORLEY. Univ. of Florida.  Gainesville, FL 32611. Corn is the third most important crop in the world, after wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and rice (Oriza sativa L.).  Legume mulch is a good source of N and organic matter. The objective of this study was to test five cowpea ('Cream 40') mulch rates for production of a promising late season sweet corn hybrid (‘8102R’ from Abbot & Cobb). An experiment was conducted with five mulch rates (0, 2.2, 4.4, 6.6, and 8.8 kg fresh cowpea m^-2, based on 0, 67, 134, 201, and 268 kg N content ha^-1) in a randomized complete block design. Data were collected on fresh ear yields.  Low mulch rates produced more small ears than higher rates, while more fancy ears (USDA standard with ears greater than 15 cm) were obtained from high cowpea mulch rates (4.4 to 6.6 kg m^-2) (P<0.05). Total number of ears and total ear weight corresponded to a third-order polynomial (R² > 0.90) peaking at 6.6 kg cowpea mulch m^-2.