Second harvest yields of medium duration pigeonpeas (Cajanus cajan) in peninsular India

In Peninsular India medium duration pigeonpeas (Cajanus cajan) are normally sown soon after the onset of the monsoon, in June or July; they mature around December, when they are usually cut down and removed from the field. However, if they are harvested by ratooning or by picking the pods, the plants go on to produce a second flush of pods, which matures around March. In experiments conducted in four growing seasons at ICRISAT Center, second harvest yields were usually greater for non-ratooned than ratooned plants, and in experiments conducted on Vertisols they were greater for the plants ratooned high up in the plant than for those cut closer to the ground. Second harvest yields of non-ratooned plants without irrigation on Alfisols were on average 66% of the first harvest yields, but on Vertisols only 37%, in spite of the greater water-holding capacity of the latter. On Alfisols second harvest yields were approximately doubled by a single irrigation, but there was less response to irrigation on Vertisols. The poorer second harvest yields on Vertisols may have been due to the damaging effects of soil cracking on the root system of the plants. In non-ratooned plants from which the first and second flushes of pods were harvested together, yields were less than the total yield obtained from non-ratooned plants in two harvests, even though the yield loss, mainly due to pod shattering, was as little as 4% in one year. The taking of second harvests from pigeonpeas grown on Alfisols may have considerable potential as a method of obtaining additional yield for little extra cost

Field screening of pigeonpeas for tolerance to soil salinity

A total of 47 lines (30 advanced breeding lines and 11 varieties of Cajanus cajan and six Atylosia species) were tested under naturally saline field conditions. Survival of most lines was intermediate between that of the tolerant and susceptible standard varieties, C11 and Hy3C, respectively. Four selections from ICP7623, one each from ICP7118, ICP7182 and ICP7035, the local variety ST1 and Atylosia scarabaeoides showed better survival than the tolerant standar

The effects of flower removal on the seed yield of pigeonpeas (Cajanus cajan)

In field experiments carried out at Hyderabad, India with early and mediumduration cultivars of Cajanus cajan sown at the normal time, in July, removal of all flowers and young pods for up to 5 wk had little or no effect on final yield. The flowering period of the deflowered plants was extended and their senescence delayed. The plants compensated for the loss of earlier-formed flowers by setting pods from later-formed flowers; there was relatively little effect of the deflowering treatments on the number of seeds per pod or weight per seed. The plants were also able to compensate for the repeated removal of all flowers and young pods from alternate nodes by setting more pods at the other nodes. The removal of flowers from pigeonpeas grown as a winter crop resulted in yield reductions roughly proportional to the length of the deflowering period, probably because maturation of these plants was delayed and occurred under increasingly unfavourable conditions as the weather became hotter

Effect of harvest methods on the second flush yield of short-duration pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan)

Short-duration pigeonpea can give up to three harvests in environments with mild winters (e.g. minimum temperature above 10 °C) such as those prevailing in peninsular India (Sharma, Saxena & Green. 1978; Chauhan, Venkataratnam & Sheldrake, 1984). This is mainly due to the short time (about 120 days) taken to produce the first flush, and the strong perennial character of pigeonpea. The seed yield of short-duration pigeonpea in this multiple-harvest system may reach 5·2 t/ha (Chauhan et al. 198

A perennial cropping system from pigeonpea grown in post-rainy season

The feasibility of growing pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (Linn.) Millsp.] as a perennial crop was investigated during 1980-82. The medium-duration pigeonpea genotype 'ICP 1-6', sown in the post-rainy season at a population of 30 plants/m2, was allowed to perennate for 18 months, during which it produced 3 flushes of pods at 5,15 and 18 months after sowing. There was a substantial plant mortality after the first-flush harvest, but due to the high-sowing rate many plants survived and regenerated to form a closed canopy in the following rainy season. The mean yield of 2 seasons was 0.5 tonne/ha in the first flush, 1 tonne/ha in the second and 0.05 tonne/ha in the third. The yield from the second flush was obtained without weeding or insecticide spray and was comparable to that of the rainfed crop of medium-duration genotypes. Considerable leaf fall also occurred, which contributed 40kg N/ha to the soil. The yield from the third flush was very low to warrant continuation of the crop for another 3-4 months after the second-flush crop. At this harvest the mean firewood (air-dried stem) yield was 3.5 tonnes/ha. The system has good potential in the wet rainy season fallows in peninsular India, as it enables pigeonpea after the rainy season with little efforts and few inputs

Pulse Physiology Progress Report 1979-1980: Part I Pigeonpea Physiology

1. Climate and soil: The annual rainfall was just below average and the weather was particularly dry durinq the early growing period. There was heavy rainfall in September which adversely affected the September sown rabi pigeonpeas..

Factors affecting growth and yield of short-duration pigeonpea and its potential for multiple harvests

Environmental and cultural factors that may limit the yield of short-duration pigeonpea were investigated over three seasons. Plants in the peninsular Indian environment at Patancheru grew less and produced less dry matter by first-flush maturity than at Hisar, a location in northern India where the environment is considered favourable for the growth of short-duration pigeonpea. However, with a similar sowing date in June, the mean seed yields of three genotypes, ICPL 4, ICPL 81 and ICPL 87, were very similar, at about 2·3 t/ha, in both environments. This was mainly due to the higher ratio of grain to above-ground dry matter at Patancheru. In addition to the first harvest, all genotypes showed a potential for two more harvests owing to the warm winters at Patancheru. The potential for multiple harvests was particularly high in ICPL 87, which yielded 5·2 t/ha from three harvests in 1982–3, 3·6 t/ha from two harvests in 1983–4, and 4·l t/ha from three harvests in 1984–5. The optimum plant population density at Patancheru was 25–35 plants/m2 for ICPL 87, but was higher for the other two genotypes. At Patancheru, the total dry-matter and seed yield of first and subsequent harvests were significantly reduced by delaying sowing beyond June. Generally, the second- and the third-harvest yields were lower on vertisol than on alfisol under both irrigated and unirrigated conditions. The total yield of ICPL 87 from two harvests was far higher than that of a well-adapted medium-duration genotype BDN 1, grown over a similar period. The yield advantage was greater on the alfisol because of the better multiple harvest potential of this soil. The results of this study demonstrate that properly managed short-duration genotypes of pigeonpea may have considerable potential for increased yield from multiple harvests in environments where winters are warm enough to permit continued growth