Assessment of genotypes of pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) for higher productivity in semi-arid Vertisols*

Abstract

Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.) is an important pulse crop grown in rainfed condition in Maharashtra. It is grown mainly as intercrop with sorghum, cotton and soybean. Among different crops grown in rainy (kharif) season, pigeonpea would normally perform better under drought prone condition (Choulwar et al. 2010). However, there is a large variability in the performance of pigeonpea genotypes for grain yield under rainfed condition. Breeding of genotypes thus would require identification of specific attributes that may be transferred to high-yielding cultivars. The present study was undertaken to assess genetic variation of genotypes and identify genotypes for rainfed condition in a semi-arid Vertisol. Twenty three pigeonpea genotypes were tested for yield contributing traits during kharif 2007, 2008 and 2009 under rainfed condition in a semi-arid Vertisol at Marathwada Agricultural University, Parbhani in Maharashtra. Parbhani is located at a latitude of 190 16', longitude of 760 47' and altitude of 409 m above mean sea level. The trials were conducted in a randomized block design with three replications.