Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during summer cropping seasons of 2017- 2018 and 2018-2019 at the Experimental farm University of Limpopo, South Africa to assess the effect of phosphorus fertilization levels (0, 15, 30, 45 kg P/ha) on two cowpea varieties (PAN311 and TVu13464) planted in a strip intercropping with maize using splitsplit plot design wit three replications. Some of the variables measured include day to maturity, number of pods per plant grain yield, root mass, land equivalent ratio, profit and benefit-cost ratio (BCR). Application of 30-45 kg P/ha significantly increased th root biomass, the number of pods per plant and the overall grain yield. Across the two seasons, PAN311 performed better than in TVu13464 in all measured agronomic variables. It flowered and matured earlier, had high canopy height and root mass, a greater number of pods per plant and high pod length, which subsequently led to increased grain yield. Strip intercropping was better over monocropping in root mass and the grain yield. The strip intercropping system was advantageou over monocropping in BCR and land utilisation because the land equivalent ratio (LER) values were greater than 1.00. Th optimum P level for cowpea-maize strip intercropping was 30 kg P/ha based on yield and financial return. The study showed that P application enhanced the productivity of the cowpea varieties in cowpea-maize strip intercropping in the semi-arid environment of Limpopo Province, South Africa.