Effect of Humic acid on growth and yield of two cowpea varieties infected with Cowpea mild mottle virus

摘要

The antiviral activity of Humic acid isolated from soils at Ile-Ife was evaluated. Two cowpea varieties (Ife Brown and TVu 76) were used as test plants in a RCBD design with 6 treatments which included the control experiment. The results suggest that the humic acid did not in any way contribute to the growth parameters of the plants. There were significant differences for all the yield parameter in varieties by treatment interaction, while variety show significance for number of pods per plant and average pod length. Treatment was significant for all the yield parameters except for seed weight per plant. This suggests that humic acid was able to suppress the effect of the virus on the cowpea plant for ultimate increase in yield.