Origin of early maturing pigeonpea germplasm and its impact on adaptation and cropping systems

Abstract

Pigeonpea breeding activities started about a century ago and for decades only late maturing cultivars dominated the global cultivation. Historically, no early maturing cultivar was available for a very long time and breeding of such varieties started in the third quarter of 20th century but at a low key. From these efforts, some pigeonpea varieties maturing in 90–150 days were bred. Information gathered from various sources revealed that the first few early maturing genotypes originated through spontaneous mutations in the late maturing field‐grown landraces. In other cases, transgressive segregation and induced mutations also produced early maturing varieties. At present, the high yielding early maturing cultivars are contributing significantly towards widening the adaption barriers and in the diversification of some age‐old cropping systems. In this paper, the authors, besides discussing the importance of early maturing cultivars in present agricultural systems, also summarize information related to the origin of primary sources of earliness.

Utilizing Wild Cajanus platycarpus, a Tertiary Genepool Species for Enriching Variability in the Primary Genepool for Pigeonpea Improvement

“…In general, major pigeonpea cultivation is dominated by varieties in the medium-maturity group (Choudhary and Nadarajan, 2011). Under changing climatic conditions, there is an emphasis on developing short-duration pigeonpea cultivars having photo-and thermo-insensitivity to fit into multiple cropping systems as well as to expand pigeonpea cultivation into new niche areas (Saxena et al, 2019).…”

Registration of photoperiod insensitive pigeonpea cultivar ‘Lázaro’

“…Several individual F 2 plants insensitive to photoperiod, with mid‐early flowering (<100 d) and maturity (<150 d) (Saxena et al., 2019) were selected in June–August 1977 under long‐daylength (>12 h) conditions at the Isabela Research Substation at the University of Puerto Rico. The F 3 to F 14 progeny were sown in single rows during the summer from 1978 to 1988.…”

“…Pigeonpea is not grown commercially in California currently, but efforts are underway to breed pigeonpea with early maturity and short plant height, adapted to irrigated production conditions (Huynh and Roberts, personal communication). Pigeonpea growers need cultivars that can be planted throughout the year, possess early (130–140 d) or mid‐early maturity (150–160 d) (Saxena et al., 2019; Srivastava & Saxena, 2019), optimum plant height (<2.0 m), and determinate growth habit, which facilitates mechanical direct harvesting. Currently, the local cultivars such as ‘Cortada’ (Bosques‐Vega, Vélez‐Colón, & Acosta‐Villegas, 2000a) and ‘Guerrero’ (Bosques‐Vega, Vélez‐Colón, & Acosta‐Villegas, 2000b) are sensitive to photoperiod and, therefore, are recommended to be planted in the short‐daylength period (generally October–December) to decrease their days to harvest.…”

The earliest maturing pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millspaugh] germplasm bred at ICRISAT

“…The first early maturing spontaneous mutant was detected by breeders in 1953 in a farmer's field. This triggered the breeding for earliness, and by the turn of the century, pigeonpea cultivars varying in maturity periods were bred (Saxena et al 2019). Traditionally, the early maturing pigeonpea germplasm is classified into three broad groups including mid-early (150-160 days to mature), early (130-140 days to mature), and extra-early (110-120 days to mature).…”