Pigeonpea

Pigeonpea Latest News

Recently, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has developed India’s first fully annotated telomere-to-telomere (T2T) reference genome of pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L. Millsp.) variety ‘Asha’. 

About Pigeonpea

• It is popularly known as ‘Arhar’ or ‘Tur’.
• It is one of India’s most important pulse crops and a major source of dietary protein.
• It is a legume crop and protein-rich food which is primarily consumed as dal in India.
• It is predominantly a crop of tropical areas mainly cultivated in semi-arid regions of India.
• Required Climatic conditions
  • Rain: It requires 600-650mm of annual rainfall along with moist conditions for the initial eight weeks and dry conditions during its flowering and pod development phase.
  • Temperature: It can be grown with a temperature ranging from 26 to 30 degree Celsius in the rainy season and 17 to 22 degree Celsius in the post rainy (November to March) season.
  • Soil: It can be grown on all types of soil, however, sandy loam or loam soil is most suitable for its cultivation.
  • It is very sensitive to low radiation at pod development, therefore flowering during the monsoon and cloudy weather, leads to poor pod formation.
  • It is commonly intercropped with a wide range of crops.
• Diseases: The important diseases of Pigeon pea are Wilt, Sterility mosaic disease, Phytophthora blight, Alternaria blight and Powdery mildew etc.
• Health benefits: It has low glycaemic index and is rich in thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B-6, folate, vitamin A, calcium, zinc, iron and magnesium
• Major Pigeon pea producing states: Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand.

Source: PIB

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