[01] Macsamuel Sesugh Ugbaa, Department of Plant Breeding and Seed Science, Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University (Former Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi), Makurdi, Nigeria. [02] Olasan Joseph Olalekan, Plant Science and Biotechnology Unit, Department of Botany, Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University (Former Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi), Makurdi, Nigeria. [03] Aguoru Celestine Uzoma, Plant Science and Biotechnology Unit, Department of Botany, Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University (Former Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi), Makurdi, Nigeria. [04] Ejembi Shedrach Odega, Plant Science and Biotechnology Unit, Department of Botany, Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University (Former Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi), Makurdi, Nigeria. [05] Edoka Benjamin Paul, Plant Science and Biotechnology Unit, Department of Botany, Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University (Former Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi), Makurdi, Nigeria.

A research was carried out to evaluate the effect of dissolved leaf litters of Moringa olifera, Terminalia catappa and Terminalia mentally on germination, seedling vigour and growth parameters of three cowpea varieties (IT07K-243-1-2, IT06K-111 and IT06K-134). Cowpea varieties were obtained from the cowpea collection of the Molecular Biology Laboratory, Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University Makurdi. Fresh leaves of Moringa olifera, Terminalia catappa and Terminalia mentally were collected from uncultivated fields within the University campus. This experiment was carried out in a Completely Randomized Design where the seeds were planted in polythene bags in duplicates. The decomposed leaf litters of the test plants were administered to the growing medium at 150g and 300g respectively while NPK (at 1.4 and 2.5g respectively) fertilizer was also used as treatment medium and a control experiment was also set up. The single and combined effect of the leaf litters on the germination and growth performance of the cowpea seeds were measured and recoded appropriately. The data collected were subjected to one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) using Genstat software. The results obtained indicated that the single and combined leaf litters of the test plants had significant influence on the germination and growth of the cowpea plant. Highest germination count and percentage germination (3.00±0.00 and 100% respectively) were recorded in IT07K-243-1-2 variety planted on soils with Tc+Tm+Mo (300g) leaf compost, Seedling vigour was highest (27.73±0.15) in IT07K-243-1-2 with Tc+Tm+Mo (300g) leaf compost. The plant height was highest (11.0±0.23) in IT06K-111 treated with Tc+Tm+Mo (150g) compost, while number of leaf was highest (9.17±0.19) in IT06K-111 treated with NPK (2.5g) at 5WAP. Plant spread was highest in the control (5.33±0.15). IT06K-111 variety had the overall best performance across all the treatments and the Moringa olifera had the best single effect on the germination and growth of the cowpea plants compared to Terminalia catappa and Terminalia mentally. However the combination of the decomposed leaf litters of Moringa olifera, Terminalia catappa and Terminali mentally had significant effect on germination and growth characters of cowpea and can be considered as viable organic manure sources for growing of cowpea.

Decayed Leaf Litters, Moringa Olifera, Terminalia Catappa, Terminalia Mentally, Cowpea Varieties

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