Pigeon pea

About Pigeonpea

• It is also called as arhar and tur in India.
• It is an important 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.
• 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 26⁰C to 30⁰C in the rainy season and 17⁰C to 22⁰C 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. In India, it was estimated that 80 - 90 % of the pigeonpea were intercropped.
• The important diseases of Pigeon pea are Wilt, Sterility mosaic disease, Phytophthora blight, Alternaria blight and Powdery mildew etc.
• Concern: The Pigeonpea’s long growth cycle and sensitivity to day length have hindered breeding efforts, with only about 250 varieties released globally over six decades.
• Health benefits: It has low glycaemic index and is rich in thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B-6, folate, vitamin A, calcium, zinc, iron, magnesium and phosphorus.
• Major Pigeon pea producing states: Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand.

New protocols of ICRISAT

• The new convention promises to substantially cut the time required to develop new Pigeonpea lines with desirable traits, effectively bringing food to dryland communities faster.
• The new protocol shortens the breeding and control over factors like photoperiod, temperature, humidity, and breeding cycle to 2 to 4 years while the traditional Pigeonpea breeding takes up to 13 years. 

Q1) What is the glycaemic index (GI)?

The glycaemic index (GI) is a rating system for foods containing carbohydrates. It shows how quickly each food affects your blood sugar (glucose) level when that food is eaten on its own.

Source: New protocol can reduce breeding cycle of pigeonpea by 3-5 years, important for nutritional security in drylands