We will continue our discussion on cowpeas this week. All cultivated cowpea varieties are considered warm season and adapted to heat and drought conditions. Cowpeas typically reach a canopy height of 30 to 36 inches.

The seed pod is typically 3 to 6 inches long and has 6 to 13 seeds per pod. The seed weight per bushel is 60 pounds with about 3,000 to 4,000 seeds per pound.

The germination of the seed is rapid at soil temperatures above 65 degrees F.

They will set pods in about 60 days and mature in 90 to 100 days. Leaves will dry down but may not drop off completely.

The relatively fast maturity of cowpeas allows their use as a double crop in some instances if moisture is available. They are grown in the spring and fall in this part of Texas.

Dried black-eyed peas and pink-eyed/purple hull peas are used for food products. The dried beans are frequently sold directly to the consumer after cleaning and bagging.

Another common product is the canned or frozen product, which is cooked with water prior to canning or freezing.

Various soups and bean mixes will incorporate this product as well.

Cowpea is considered nutritious with a protein content of about 23 percent, fat content of 1.3 percent, fiber content of 1.8 percent, carbohydrate content of 67 percent and water content of 8-9 percent.

As in most legumes, the amino acid profile complements cereal grains.

As far as marketing the peas, the farmers in this area usually have a contract with canning companies in Arkansas and Texas.

Price for Chinese Reds or pink-eyed/purple hull peas fluctuates due to normal production and demand factors, but could range from $0.20-0.30 per pound. for the canned market.

Yields in the area range from 800 to 1200 pounds generally. They do well on sandy loam soils.

Overall, pink-eyed/purple hull peas can be looked at as another crop to diversify the crop base on a farm.

The fact that they are a food crop rather than a feed crop can buffer a farmer’s economic risk from variability in weather or commodity crop prices.

As a legume, cowpea fixes its own nitrogen, and does not need nitrogen fertilizer.

In fact, some of the vigorous, vining, varieties of cowpeas are excellent nitrogen producers as a cover crop in some parts of the country where moisture is more abundant.

Seed should be innoculated with the appropriate Rhizobium species for optimum nitrogen fixation, but nodules will generally form on cowpeas.

Soil pH should be 6.0 or higher.

We will finish our series on peas in next week’s column on pest management and diseases.

For more information on conservation, contact the Natural Resources Conservation Service office in Kingsville at 592-0309 Ext. 3 or come by at 401 East King, Suite 100.