EFFECT OF NUTRIENT SOURCE ON SOIL FERTILITY AND PRODUCTIVITY OF COWPEA [Vigna unguiculata (L) WALP.]

A greenhouse epxperiment was conducted at Pokhara, Nepal during summer of 2018 to access the effect of organic and inorganic fertilizers on soil fertility and productivity of cowpea. The experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design with eight treatments and three replications. The treatments included eight selected combination of organic and inorganic nutrient sources ( Farm yard manure, Vermicompost, Poultry manure, Nitrogen Phosphorous and Potassium). The physio- chemical properties of soil, nutrient uptake on yield attributes, yield and growth parameters weere analyzed during the investigation . Result indicated that soil soil fertility has been improved where the OM was increased form 2.28-3.6% and P from 25.58 to 28.87 mg/kg in treatment containing organic fertilizer while soil pH nd N% showing no significant difference among treatments. Maximum N, P and K content in seed and straw was obtained with 50% N from vermicompost @ 0.9t/ha + 50% N from inorganic fertilizer , however pod weight, pod girth , straw yield, 100 seed weight were found non –significant. Among growth parameters, 50% N from vermi compost @ 0.9t/ha + 50% N from inorganic fertilizer enhanced the growth parameters like plant height, number of leaves per plant. Hoever number of branches, fresh weight of roots, noodles per plant was found non significant