Pigeon Pea for Africa: A Versatile Vegetable—And More

Snapp, Sieglinde S.; Jones, Raymond; Minja, E. M.; Rusike, J.; Silim, S. N.

doi:10.21273/hortsci.38.6.1073

Cited by 39 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Recommended production practices for pigeon pea in Malawi are consistent with agronomic recommendations throughout the region, where pigeon pea is treated as an annual crop (Malawi ministry of Agriculture, 2012, Snapp et al, 2003). However, smallholder farmers in Africa and beyond are known to ‘ratoon’ pigeon pea shrubs, which involves cutting back branches after the grain is harvested and then taking a second or even third crop from the regrowth (Tayo, 1985).…”

Section: Background On Perennial Cropsmentioning

confidence: 83%

Estimating demand for perennial pigeon pea in Malawi using choice experiments

Waldman

Ortega

Richardson

et al. 2017

Ecological Economics

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Perennial crops have numerous ecological and agronomic advantages over their annual counterparts. We estimate discrete choice models to evaluate farmers' preferences for perennial attributes of pigeon pea intercropped with maize in central and southern Malawi. Pigeon pea is a nitrogen-fixing leguminous crop, which has the potential to ameliorate soil fertility problems related to continuous maize cultivation, which are common in Southern Africa. Adoption of annual pigeon pea is relatively low but perennial production of pigeon pea may be more appealing to farmers due to some of the ancillary benefits associated with perenniality. We model perennial production of pigeon pea as a function of the attributes that differ between annual and perennial production: lower labor and seed requirements resulting from a single planting with multiple harvests, enhanced soil fertility and higher levels of biomass production. The primary tradeoff associated with perennial pigeon pea intercropped with maize is competition with maize in subsequent years of production. While maize yield is approximately twice as valuable to farmers as pigeon pea yield, we find positive yet heterogeneous demand for perenniality driven by soil fertility improvements and pigeon pea grain yield.

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Section: Background On Perennial Cropsmentioning

confidence: 83%

Estimating demand for perennial pigeon pea in Malawi using choice experiments

Waldman

Ortega

Richardson

et al. 2017

Ecological Economics

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“…), pigeonpea is also a multipurpose crop (Boehringer and Caldwell , Kimani , Snapp et al. , Saxena et al. ).…”

Section: Opportunities For Pigeonpea Production and Breeding In Esamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The drought‐tolerant pigeonpea has a unique role in meeting food security needs of subsistence farmers in climatic risky regions of ESA (Snapp et al. ). With the regional breeding approach in place, the crop can now be grown in more targeted areas and breed for a wide range of uses.…”

Section: Opportunities For Pigeonpea Production and Breeding In Esamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pigeonpea has a huge untapped potential for improvement both in quantity and in quality of production in ESA (see Odeny 2007). Besides its ability to tolerate droughts and availing water and soil mineral nutrients (Valenzuela and Smith 2002, Mathews and Saxena 2005, pigeonpea is also a multipurpose crop (Boehringer and Caldwell 1989, Kimani 2001, Snapp et al 2003. Unreliable rainfall received in many parts of the sub-Saharan Africa has reduced cereal production especially maize and wheat, and made farmers to shift to legumes production especially pigeonpea which is drought tolerant, and in most cases intercropped with cereals mainly maize or sorghum.…”

Section: Opportunities For Pigeonpea Production and Breeding In Esamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unreliable rainfall received in many parts of the sub-Saharan Africa has reduced cereal production especially maize and wheat, and made farmers to shift to legumes production especially pigeonpea which is drought tolerant, and in most cases intercropped with cereals mainly maize or sorghum. The drought-tolerant pigeonpea has a unique role in meeting food security needs of subsistence farmers in climatic risky regions of ESA (Snapp et al 2003). With the regional breeding approach in place, the crop can now be grown in more targeted areas and breed for a wide range of uses.…”

Section: Opportunities For Pigeonpea Production and Breeding In Esamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Pigeonpea breeding in eastern and southern Africa: challenges and opportunities

Kaoneka

Saxena

Silim³

et al. 2016

Plant Breeding

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Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan [L.] Millspaugh) is an important multipurpose grain legume crop primarily grown in tropical and subtropical areas of Asia, Africa and Latin America. In Africa, the crop is grown for several purposes including food security, income generation, livestock feed and in agroforestry. Production in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) is however faced with many challenges including limited use of high-yielding cultivars, diseases and pests, drought, under-investment in research and lack of scientific expertise. The aim of this review is to highlight the challenges facing pigeonpea breeding research in ESA and the existing opportunities for improving the overall pigeonpea subsector in the region. We discuss the potential of the recently available pigeonpea genomic resources for accelerated molecular breeding, the prospects for conventional breeding and commercial hybrid pigeonpea, and the relevant seed policies, among others, which are viewed as opportunities to enhance pigeonpea productivity.

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Interseeded cover crops did not reduce silage corn performance in the sandy loam soils of South Carolina

Aime

Bridges

Narayanan

2023

Agrosystems Geosci & Env

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A major concern with interseeding summer cover crops alongside cash crops is the possibility of cover crops competing with the main crop for water and nutrients and thus, reducing the main crop yields. We conducted on‐farm trials in the sandy loam soils of the upstate of South Carolina in 2020 and 2021 to evaluate the effect of white clover (Trifolium repens L.), buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench), and pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.) and their mixture interseeded at V4, V7, and V10 corn growth stages on silage corn performance and soil moisture content. We found that none of the cover crops affected silage corn height and aboveground biomass production regardless of the interseeding time. Further, the volumetric water content in the upper 20‐cm soil profile was not decreased by cover crops irrespective of their interseeding time. At physiological maturity, corn height, aboveground biomass, and volumetric water content ranged between 131 and 163 cm, 9 and 23 Mg ha−1, and 10% and 22%, respectively, in season‐1 and between 181 and 216 cm, 0.48 and 1.03 Mg ha−1, and 10% and 17%, respectively, in season‐2 when interseeded with cover crops. When cover crops were not interseeded, the average corn height, aboveground biomass, and volumetric water content values were 152 cm, 13 Mg ha−1, and 13%, respectively, in season‐1 and 204 cm, 0.7 Mg ha−1, and 14%, respectively, in season‐2. These results would encourage farmers who want to consider cover crop interseeding with corn in the regional production systems.

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Pigeon Pea for Africa: A Versatile Vegetable—And More

Cited by 39 publications

References 12 publications

Estimating demand for perennial pigeon pea in Malawi using choice experiments

Estimating demand for perennial pigeon pea in Malawi using choice experiments

Pigeonpea breeding in eastern and southern Africa: challenges and opportunities

Interseeded cover crops did not reduce silage corn performance in the sandy loam soils of South Carolina

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