PERFORMANCE OF FARMERS PIGEON PEA [Cajanus cajan L. MILLSP.] VARIETIES: OPPORTUNITIES FOR SUSTAINED PRODUCTIVITY AND DISSEMINATION OF VARIETIES

HARDEV CHOUDHARY¹*, SATYA SINGH², NOUSHAD PARVEZ³, RAJKUMAR RATHORE⁴, PRAKASH SINGH RAGHUVANSHI^5
1National Innovation Foundation India, Satellite Complex, Jodhpur Tekra, Ahmedabad, 380015, Gujarat, India
²National Innovation Foundation India, Satellite Complex, Jodhpur Tekra, Ahmedabad, 380015, Gujarat, India
³National Innovation Foundation India, Satellite Complex, Jodhpur Tekra, Ahmedabad, 380015, Gujarat, India
⁴National Innovation Foundation India, Satellite Complex, Jodhpur Tekra, Ahmedabad, 380015, Gujarat, India
⁵National Innovation Foundation India, Satellite Complex, Jodhpur Tekra, Ahmedabad, 380015, Gujarat, India
* Corresponding Author : hardev@nifindia.org

Received : 07-12-2016     Accepted : 16-12-2016     Published : 18-12-2016
Volume : 8     Issue : 61       Pages : 3471 - 3474
Int J Agr Sci 8.61 (2016):3471-3474

Keywords : Grassroots Innovators, Farmers variety, Pigeon pea, ex-situ, Adoption
Academic Editor : Dr Ramphool Puniya
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Acknowledgements/Funding : The authors express their sincere thanks to Dr. Vipin Kumar, Director, National Innovation Foundation- India [Autonomous Body of the Department Science and Technology] for providing financial support and encouragement to carry out the research work and to Shri Prakash Singh Raghuvanshi and Shri Rajkumar Rathore for providing the seeds of the varieties developed by them
Author Contribution : Shri Prakash Singh Raghuvanshi and Shri Rajkumar Rathore have developed the varieties of pigeon pea. Shri Hardev Choudhary and Dr. Noushad Parvez initiated and conducted the field trials. Dr. Satya Singh analysed the data and with

The Pigeon pea, an excellent source of protein and well balanced nutritionally has very low productivity as compared to its potential yield despite several government efforts for productivity enhancement. Many grassroots innovative farmers have also developed improved varieties of pigeon pea. With the objective to channelize successful farmers’ pigeon pea varieties, an ex situ evaluation trial comprising of three farmers’ developed varieties and two locally popular varieties was conducted during Kharif 2014 and 2015 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Results revealed significant superiority and suitability of farmers’ varieties over local varieties for the area during both the years. Kudrat 3 variety [3253.7 kg/ha] outperformed the other varieties in yield and majority of yield attributing traits followed by Richa 2000 [3075.6 kg/ha]. Strong positive correlation coefficients between yield and yield attributing traits show that these traits have strong impact on yield of the farmers’ varieties tested. Superior performances of the varieties also depict their adaptability to the local conditions.More productive results can be obtained by promoting location specific farmers’ plant varieties. From the exertion it was established that these farmers’ varieties can be considered for channelization and dissemination in similar agro-climatic zones.