Description

Common Name: Black-eyed pea, southern pea, crowder pea or field pea

Cowpeas are typically climbing or trailing vines that bear compound leaves with three leaflets. The white, purple, or pale-yellow flowers usually grow in pairs or threes at the ends of long stalks. Cowpea is a warm season crop and thrives in hot, moist conditions. Cowpea seed is a nutritious component in the human diet, and cheap livestock feed as well. Both the green and dried seeds are suitable for canning and boiling as well. Well drained loam or slightly heavy soil are best suited. In colder climate somewhat sandy soil preferred as crop mature earlier in them. It can grow successfully in acidic soil but not in saline/alkaline soil. Season: June, September or December. It can be grown throughout the year under Kerala conditions. Vegetative growth will be more in rainy season.