Response of yield and its components of red gram (Cajanus cajan L. Millsp.) to elevated CO2

Abstract

Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan L. Millsp.) is an important grain legume crop of the semi arid tropics and is a major dietary protein source. The extra short duration cultivar of pigeon pea ICPL 88039 was evaluated at ambient (370 μmol/mol) and twice the ambient (700 μmol/mol) concentrations of CO2 in open top chambers (OTCs). The results showed that the crop recorded a significant positive enhanced response for total biomass, fodder yield, grain yield, number of pods and seeds per plant, test weight and HI at elevated CO2. The ANOVA revealed significant differences in response of the characteristics to CO2 concentrations. Under elevated CO2 the total biomass recorded an improvement of 91.3%, grain yield 150.1%, fodder yield 67.1%. The major contributing components for improved grain yield under elevated CO2 were number of pods, number of seeds and test weight which recorded an increase of 97.9%, 119.5% and 7.2%, respectively. The crop maintained a significant positive increase of harvest index (HI) at elevated CO2 with an increment of 30.7% over ambient values. This increase in HI was due to its improved pod set and seed yield under enhanced CO2 concentration thereby emphasizes this crop for sustained food with nutritional security under climate change scenario.