Pigeonpea is a protein-rich food legume that plays a crucial role in the food and nutritional security of smallholder farmers in the semi-arid regions of Asia and Eastern and Southern Africa. Photoperiod and temperature sensitivity of pigeonpea has restricted its expansion to wider latitudes and altitudes. Due to longer maturity duration the existing varieties are not suitable for diverse cropping systems and agro-ecologies. But this need not be the case anymore.

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Prospects of super-early photo-insensitive pigeonpea
Oct 2019
Introduction
Pigeonpea is a protein-rich food legume that plays a crucial role in the food and nutritional security
of smallholder farmers in the semi-arid regions of Asia and Eastern and Southern Africa. Photoperiod
and temperature sensitivity of pigeonpea has restricted its expansion to wider latitudes and
altitudes. Due to longer maturity duration the existing varieties are not suitable for diverse cropping
systems and agro-ecologies. But this need not be the case anymore.
The game changer
• New production niches for these super-early varieties that have been identified include pigeonpea-
wheat cropping system, rice fallows, sugarcane intercropping, etc., in India.
• Additional income can be earned by farmers as the super-early varieties have made it possible to
grow pigeonpea in non-traditional areas, marginal lands, and to fit in the narrow window of time
between harvest and planting of important cereal crops.
• Improved soil health and productivity due to symbiotic nitrogen fixation is one of the benefits of
introducing super-early pigeonpea in diverse cropping systems. Due to short maturity duration,
these varieties escape damage caused by disease and pest infestation along with drought.
• Machine harvesting is facilitated due to synchronized maturity and short stature in determinate
lines. Machine harvesting ensures timeliness of operations and reduces drudgery.
A. Why super-early pigeonpea?
The productivity of pigeonpea has been stagnant at around 750 kg per hectare for more than six
decades and further efforts are needed in improving its yield potential. Increasing the area under
pigeonpea cultivation could contribute to increased production. As traditional medium-duration
Source: AICRP on pigeonpea annual report, 2018-19
Earliness is linked to photo-insensitivity.
• Mechanization pro-stature
• Escapes diseases, pest attack and drought
• Market-preferred seed quality traits
▪▪ Bold seed
▪▪ High dal recovery
• Improvement of nutritional security in
cereal-based cropping system
• Contributes to reducing environmental degradation.
D. Recommended sowing window for super-early pigeonpea in India
Area, production and productivity of pigeonpea in India.
(Source: Wallis et al., 1981)
Solution
1. Productivity
Cropping system intensificationHybrid Breeding
Varietal improvement
2. Production
• Early maturing (90-100 days)
• Photo and thermo insensitivity will help
in horizontal expansion in non-traditional
niches
• Mechanization pro-stature
• Rapid generation turnover
Photo & thermo sensitivity
restricts the expansion across
varying cropping niches
Hingane AJ, Kute NS, Singh I, Kumar N, Singh A, Singh IP, Belliappa SH, Kumar CVS and Rathore AR
Isolation field of ICPL 11255. Super-early pigeonpea intercrop
with sugarcane
Super-early variety in Rice fallows
Super-early determinate
variety ICPL 11255 at
flowering stage.
Super-early determinate variety
ICPL 11255 at podding stage.
pigeonpea varieties are sensitive to photoperiod it has restricted its expansion to new niches,
these super-early photo-insensitive varieties offer an opportunity to increase production and meet
increasing demand by horizontal expansion of pigeonpea cultivation in non-traditional areas.
B. Cropping system intensification
C. Scope
• Ready to harvest in less than 3 months
• High per day productivity of 10-15 kg/ha
• Expansion to wider latitudes and altitudes
• Diversification of cropping systems
▪▪ Wheat
▪▪ Sugarcane
• Excellent option to exploit stored soil moisture
in rice fallows
15 January 15 February 15 March 15 April 15 May 15 June
Post-rainy Rainy
15 July 15 August 15 September 15 October 15 November 15 December
Rainy Post-rainy
E. Pigeonpea for sustainable livelihoods in rice fallow cropping system
• Provides protein-rich food (up to 22%)
• Zero tillage
• Utilizes available residual soil moisture
• Enhances soil nutrients (fixes 40 kg/ha nitrogen and releases soil-bound phosphorus)
• No basal dose of fertilizer required
• No weeding required
• Sowing (October-November)
• Harvesting (February-March)
• Additional income to farmers
• Provides feed/fodder for poultry/livestock
• Provides fuelwood.
F. On-farm demonstration of super-early varieties in rice fallows
• ICPL 11255 determinate (DT) and ICPL 20325 non-determinate (NDT) super-early lines are suitable
• Can be grown in residual moisture with one or two irrigations
• Tested in Kalahandi, Bolangir, Khurda, Puri, Nayagarh and Cuttack districts of Odisha, average yield
recorded up to 650 kg/ha
• Zero tillage (utilizing residual moisture soon after the rice harvest) with following management
practices:
▪▪ Dibbling method
▪▪ Straight line sowing
▪▪ Seed rate 18-20kg/ha
▪▪ Spacing - 30 X 20 cm
▪▪ Hydroprime for 3 hours before sowing
• Spray as foliar diammonium phosphate (DAP) or urea (3X) increasing 2% (@ 30 days after sowing to
6% (every 15-20 days) per hectare during vegetative stages
• Plant density:166,667 plants per hectare.
G. Super-early pigeonpea for rapid generation turnover
Earliness along with photoperiod and temperature insensitivity of these super-early lines can also
be explored for accelerating the varietal development process by rapid generation advancement
and taking 2-3 generations per year
Mapping populations to study the genetics of various biotic and abiotic stresses could be
developed faster (~ 2 yr to develop recombinant inbred lines); however, a prerequisite would be to
have contrasting parents for the traits of interest in the super-early maturity group.