OAR@ICRISATSecond harvest yields of medium duration pigeonpeas (Cajanus cajan) in peninsular IndiaNVenkataratnamauthorA RSheldrakeauthorIn 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.Pigeonpea1985ElsevierArticle

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