Improved ICRISAT Pigeonpea Varieties and Hybrids for OdishaM GMulaauthorR VKumarauthorR SGopalanauthorS KDasauthorK BSaxenaauthorOdisha State, (17.49´N to 22.34´N and 81.27´E to 87.29´E), is located on the eastern coast of India. There are three main seasons in the state: summer (March to June), rainy (July to October) and winter (November-February). The annual rainfall varies from 1140 mm to 1716 mm, and the rainfall increases from west to east. Maximum temperatures during the year ranged from 24°C to 45°C and minimum temperatures ranged from 17°C to 22°C. The total agricultural land area of Odisha is about 8.7 million hectares, of which 1.9 million hectares is irrigated and the rest is rainfed. About 70 percent of the population lives in villages, and 85 percent of the total workforce depends on agriculture. A large section of farmers in the rainfed upland ecosystems of Odisha have remained isolated from improved cultivars and management practices of pigeonpea for various reasons. There is ample scope for the expansion of high yielding short and medium duration pigeonpea varieties and hybrids in the rainfed areas for developing sustainable livelihoods through a farmer participatory approach, which led to the implementation of this project. The project entitled ‘Introduction and Expansion of Improved Pigeonpea (Arhar) Production Technology in Rainfed Upland Ecosystems of Odisha’ is funded by the Government of Odisha under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) sub-scheme 353 No. 15(03)/19/2011). This was approved on 23 May 2011 for a period of 4 years (2011-2014) with a total budget of `10.253 crores (US$2.29 million – US$1 = `60 approx.) to cover five districts (Balangir, Boudh, Kalahandi, Naupada and Rayagada). The project was officially launched on 09 August 2011 at the International Crops Research InstitutePigeonpea2013International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid TropicsMonograph