Pigeon pea cultivation

Dear farmers,

Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) is the most important crop worldwide. It is second important pulse crop after gram. India is on the first postion in pigeon pea cultivation. Ability of red gram to produce high economic yield under soil deficit makes it an important crop in rainfed and dryland agriculture.

Requirements of crop(climate & soil)

Climate

Pigeonpea grows mainly in tropical and subtropical climate. During vegetative growth it prefers mostly moist and warm climate. However during flowering, ripening and pod setting, cool and bright sunny days are necessary. It is raised in the area having 20-30°C temperature during Kharif and 17-22°C during winter season cloudy weather and excessive rainfall at flowering damage the crop. It is highly susceptible even to light frost. It can tolerate moisture stress to a great extent because of deep root system. It grows successfully in the area receiving rainfall only 650 mm.

Soil

It grows well on wide range of soils from Sandy loams to clay loams but it thrives best on fertile and well drained loamy soils. Well drained alluvial and loamy soils are good for its cultivation. It can also be grown on heavy soils with good drainage as it is very susceptible to waterlogging during seedling stage. However, saline-alkaline and waterlogged soils are not suitable for its cultivation because nodulation is adversely affected.

Cultivation Practices for Kharif pigeon pea

Land preparation

Being deep rooted crop, it requires deep, well pulverized, properly tilled and well drained seed bed. Deep  ploughing to a depth of 15cm with mount board plough followed by 2-3 harrowings are enough to bring the soil in good tilt. If necessary levelling should be done to avoid stagnation of water, to ensure uniform irrigation and proper drainage.

Seed selection

Selection of proper breed of seed should be done to ensure prevention of diseases, water stress tolerance etc. according to the area.

Seed treatment

Seed is treated with Carbondiezim or Thiram at the rate 3 g/kg of seed before sowing. For nitrogen fixation seed treatment with Rhizobium @ 25 g/kg seed.

Sowing method

The crop is sown in line by drilling the seeds in soil with the help of seed drill. The sowing depth  should be more than 4-5 cm. Pigeon pea is sensitive to water logging during sidling stage. Sowing on ridges especially in heavy soils gives higher yield than flat beds. Broadbase and furrow system is more useful in heavy soils.

Nutrient management

Pigeon pea responds less to fertilizers than other crops. Production of 10 quintals piveonpea grain needs about 56:12:26 kg NPK/ha.

10 tonnes of FYM or compost per hectare should be applied to soil before last harrowing. Being a leguminous crop, it utlises atmospheric nitrogen through symbiotic nitrogen fixation. 20 kg N/ha for long and medium duration varieties and 25 kg N/ha for early varieties is required. Phosphorus @ 40 kg/ha in soils medium in phosphorus and @ 50 kg/ha in soils deficient in phosphorus. If the soil is deficient in potassium then 20-30 kg K2O should be applied. All the fertilizers should be applied at the time of sowing. Pulses are known to be very susceptible to zinc deficiency. Zinc deficient plant shows stunted growth, reduced leaf size, yellowing and development of brown spot on leaves.

Zinc sulphate @ 20 kg/ha applied at the time of sowing. In standing crop deficiency symptoms are noticed, then spray of 5 kg zinc sulphate and 2-5 kg lime dissolved in 800-1000 lit of water should be undertaken.

Water management

Pigeon pea requires about 200 to 250 mm water to produce about 1.0 tones of grain. It is a deep rooted crop and can tolerate drought. As it is grown in kharif season irrigation is not generally required. But in case of prolonged drought during reproductive growth stage, 1-2 irrigations should be given.

Weed control

Some of the common weeds associated with pigeon pea are Cyprus rotundus, Celosia argentina, Commelina benghalensis, Phylanthus riruri, Echinochloa sp, Amaranthus sp, Eubhorbia sp and Digitaria sp. Among the pulses pigeon pea grows very slowly during early growth  period of 45-50 days. If the weeds are not properly controlled, the yield reduction is noticed to the extent of 90% weeding and hoeing at 25-30 and 45-50 DAS found effective in controlling weeds. A number of herbicides found useful in controlling weeds. Pre-emergence application of Alachlor @ 3 lit./ha or Fluchlorin 1 kg ai/ha as pre-sown in corporation in the soil may be done.

Harvesting and threshing

Red gram is an intermediate growth type and the growth is continued with reproductive phase. The harvesting is done when 75% pods turn brown. Extra early varieties matures in 110-115 days, early varieties in 135-160 days, medium late varieties in 160-200 days and late varieties in more than 200 days. Harvesting is done with sickle by cutting from 7.5 to 25 cm above the ground level. Harvested plants are left in the sun for drying. Threshing is done either by beating the pods with a stick or by mechanical thresher.

Yield

The grain yield of pigeonpea ranges from 15-20 q/ha. But with improved  technology 20-25 quintals grains and 50-60 quintals of sticks can be obtained.