Effects of Tephrosia vogelii and rabbit urine formulation on insect pests and yields of cowpea Singida, Tanzania

Abstract

An experiment was conducted at Jineri village, Singida rural to evaluate the effects of 10%(w/v) Tephrosia vogelii (T) and 50%(v/v) rabbit urine (U) on insect pests and yield of cowpea in Singida Tanzania from February 2021 to June 2021. The T and U treatments were mixed in 10% (v/v) sunflower oil, and sterile water and synthetic pesticide (karate 2.5EC) were used as negative and positive control respectively. The experiment was laid down in a complete randomized block design (CRBD) with three replications. The results indicated that there was significant difference (P≤0.001) on insect pest counts between plots sprayed with different treatments. The plots treated with positive control exhibited smaller mean number (4, 7 and 5) followed by OUT formulation (11, 8 and 4) for aphid, leaf miner, and pod borer respectively, at flowering stage, i.e., seventh week after germination. Plots sprayed with sterile distilled water had higher mean numbers of insect pests (25, 20 and 12) for aphid, leaf miner and pod borer respectively, compared with other treatments at flowering stage. The resilts indicate that the OUT formulation improved yield to a degree comparable with that of positive control, as evidenced from their close grain yield values of 794 kg/ha and 846 kg/ha respectively, which are both significantly higher than 483 kg/ha of negative control. Based on the results, the OUT-formulation is recommended for managing cowpea pests in the field.