Effect of sowing depth on the speed of germination and emergence on a creole variety of cowpea

Abstract

The cawpea is an agricultural crop that is very present in the crops, mainly in the North and
Northeast of Brazil, and its efficiency in planting is directly related to the absence of germination
failures. These failures may be related to the use of inadequate crop depths. Based on this,
an essay was installed in Instituto Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Campus Ipanguaçu, during
the period from August to September 2016, with the objective of evaluating the effect of sowing
depth on emergence and initial development of cowpea. A completely randomized design was
used, with four replications and five treatments referring to different sowing depths, which were
3.0; 5.0; 7.0; 9.0 and 11.0 cm. The sowing was done in bags of seedlings with volume of 1.0 L,
using substrate formed by soil and organic compound (bovine manure), in the ratio of 2/1. The
evaluated characteristics were emergency, time for emergence and germination speed index.
Effect of treatments was observed for all characteristics evaluated. The increase in sowing
depth promoted a delay in emergence and a decrease in the number of emerged seedlings, as
well as a reduction in the germination rate index.