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The effect of pH on roots, shoots, leaves and germination rate during the early developmental stage of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.)

Volume: 59  ,  Issue: 1 , August    Published Date: 06 September 2020
Publisher Name: IJRP
Views: 761  ,  Download: 601 , Pages: 50 - 59    
DOI: 10.47119/IJRP100591820201383

Authors

# Author Name
1 Kefas Luka Baiyi
2 Isaac Hyeladi Malgwi

Abstract

Cowpea is a rich and cheap source of protein for both human and animal consumption. However, cowpea production is on a decline due to current environmental factors such as soil acidity, drought, and heat. This experiment was carried out to observe how five different pH levels (4, 5, 6, 7 and 9) could affect the germination rate and to analyze the relationship between root growth and shoot and leaf development. For each pH level, 25 seed samples were used to determine the germination rate. At 24hrs, there was little variation of germinated seeds based on the different pH, while at 72hrs, all seed samples regardless of the pH level attained a 100% germination rate. Three out of the 25 germinated seeds were randomly selected and grown in a liquid media under a controlled environment for three weeks. Fresh and dry weight of leaves, shoots and roots were measured. Pearson?s correlation showed a strong negative relationship between the number of leaves and root length with high significance (P<0.01), this negative correlation could be important in pasture design for animal husbandry as vegetative cover takes greater precedence over root growth. Although, the number of leaves was the same for pH7 and pH9, however, the latter had the lowest leaf mass while the former had the highest, the difference in their masses could be because of low water flow and hydraulic conductivity at lower pH. Also, other correlations were observed between traits such as masses of shoots, roots, leaves.

Keywords

  • germination rate
  • pH
  • root
  • shoot
  • leaf