Pigeonpea: a new dryland summer pulse for northern region farming systems

Abstract

Take home message
Pigeonpea is showing promise as a new option for growers seeking a hardy dryland summer pulse crop to fill a gap in their farming systems. Demand is growing for high quality pigeonpea grain for human consumption in India, and among the Indian consumers in Western countries. Last summer, DAF evaluated new experimental pigeonpea lines at four sites across southern and central Qld in GRDC-funded trials. These lines showed high grain yield, quick maturity, short height and short flowering window, and were easy to harvest using existing equipment. Given these encouraging results, efforts to commercialise pigeonpea are continuing.