Factors affecting growth and yield of short-duration pigeonpea and its potential for multiple harvests

Chauhan, Y S and Venkataratnam, N and Sheldrake, A R (1987) Factors affecting growth and yield of short-duration pigeonpea and its potential for multiple harvests. The Journal of Agricultural Science, 109. pp. 519-529.

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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, ICPL 4, ICPL 81 and ICPL 87, were very similar, at about 2·3 t/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 5·2 t/ha from three harvests in 1982–3, 3·6 t/ha from two harvests in 1983–4, and 4·l 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 permit continued growth.

Item Type:	Article
Divisions:	UNSPECIFIED
CRP:	UNSPECIFIED
Subjects:	Mandate crops > Pigeonpea
Depositing User:	Mr Charan Sai Ch
Date Deposited:	06 Nov 2011 02:50
Last Modified:	06 Nov 2011 02:50
URI:	http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/3709
Official URL:	http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0021859600081739
Projects:	UNSPECIFIED
Funders:	UNSPECIFIED
Acknowledgement:	UNSPECIFIED
Links:	Author

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