In ESA, Tanzanian and Malawian NARS implemented the pigeonpea research and development activities
in close partnership with ICRISAT-Nairobi, farmers, NGOs, CBOs and all other major stakeholders. The
project was implemented in Babati (Manyara Region), Karatu (Arusha Region) and Kilosa (Morogoro
Region) districts of Tanzania. In Malawi, on-farm research and promotion activities were carried out in
14 districts spanning from Southern (Balaka, Blantyre, Machinga, Mwanza, Zomba), Central (Kasungu,
Mchinji, Ntcheu, Ntchisi, Salima), and Northern (Chitipa, Karonga, Mzimba, Rumphi) regions during
the Phase 1.
During this phase, a major success was on fast tracking the release of two medium duration pigeonpea
varieties (ICEAP 00557 and ICEAP 01514/15) in Malawi. The new releases in Malawi were a landmark
because there had been no released medium duration pigeonpea varieties in the past. With this, the
number of pigeonpea varieties released in Malawi rose to six (2 short, 2 medium and 2 long duration
group). In Tanzania, 2 medium (ICEAP 00554, and ICEAP 00557) and 2 long duration varieties (ICEAP
00053 and ICEAP 00932) are being evaluated under National Performance Trials (NPT) and are in final
stages of the release process
