J.agric. Sci., Camb. (1987) 109, 519-529

by Y.S. Chauhan, N. Venkataratnam, R. Sheldrake

ABSTRACT

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, ICPL4, ICPL81 and ICPL87, were very similar, at about 2-3t/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 5.2t/ha from three harvests in 1982-3, 3.6t/ha from two harvests in 1983-4, and 4.1 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 merit continued growth.