Growth and Yield Attributes of Cowpea-Rice Under Intercropping System and Dual Compost-Mycorrhizae Fertilisation

Danmori Idrissou¹, Nadjilom Yoradi², Rapmo Kononer Serge¹, Ngongang Nantchouang Jordan^3, , Abdou Bouba Armand¹ and Ngakou Albert³

¹Department of agriculture, Lifestock and derived products, National Advanced School of Engineering of Maroua, University of Maroua, P.O.Box 58, Maroua, Cameroon

²Department of Biology, Faculty of Exact and Applied Sciences, University of Moundou, Chad

³Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Ngaoundéré, P.O.Box 454, Ngaoundéré, Cameroon

Cite this paper:
Danmori Idrissou, Nadjilom Yoradi, Rapmo Kononer Serge, Ngongang Nantchouang Jordan, Abdou Bouba Armand and Ngakou Albert. Growth and Yield Attributes of Cowpea-Rice Under Intercropping System and Dual Compost-Mycorrhizae Fertilisation. Journal of Applied & Environmental Microbiology. 2025; 13(1):12-20. doi: 10.12691/jaem-13-1-3

Abstract

To boost rice production in the Adamawa region of Cameroon using environmentally friendly methods, the responses of rice plants to biological (mycorrhizae) and organic (compost) fertilisers, applied singly or in combination and cowpea in an intercropping system were investigated during the 2023 and 2024 cropping seasons. The experimental design was a completely randomised block with nine treatments, each of which was triplicated: rice-compost (C), rice-compost + mycorrhizae (CM), rice-cowpea + compost (N+C), rice-cowpea (N), cowpea in monoculture (NP), rice-mycorrhizae (M), rice-cowpea + mycorrhizae (NM), rice-no fertiliser (T−), and rice-NPK (T+). plots. When treatments were applied in solely-cowpea of the Bafia variety, results revealed that amending soil with compost benefited plants in height during both cropping seasons, with an average of 62.11 cm compared to 47.95 cm for solely-cowpea system. The number of nodule/plant, as well as the number of pods per plant were significant different (p < 0.05) between sole-cropped cowpea without input and cowpea grown with compost, compared to other treatments. Compost, mycorrhizae, and cowpea (singly or in combination) significantly (p < 0.0001) influenced rice height, tillering, heading, and grain formation. The effects of compost and compost + mycorrhizae treatments were closer to that of the positive control (NPK). Mycorrhization was negatively affected by the application of mineral fertiliser NPK (20-10-10), which almost inhibited and lowered the natural rice mycorrhization frequency to less than 10%. Rice yields per hectare were higher in plots treated with mycorrhizae (2.15 to 0.32 t/ha), mycorrhizae + compost (2.08 to 0.44 t/ha), and cowpea + compost (2.14 to 0.49 t/ha), closely approaching that of the NPK treatment (2.18 to 0.55 t/ha) over the two cropping seasons respectively. As the outcome, applying compost to rice-cowpea in an intercropping system could be recommended as an ecological production strategy to rice producers if high yields of both crops are to be sustainably maintained.

Keywords:
intercropping rice cowpea fertiliser yield growth mycorrhization frequency

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