Optimizing the yield potential of pigeonpea through improved agronomic practices in vertisols

Improved agronomic practices are required to exploit the full potential of pigeon pea crop with the integration of water, density and fertilizer which individually affect seed yield and its related traits. With the aim to understand the combined effect of these factors on the performance of hybrids and varieties this experiment was carried out at Patancheru, Telangana, India during Kharif2011 and 2012 in vertisols. Three medium duration hybrids (ICPH 2671, ICPH 2740 and ICPH 3762) and varieties (BDN 711, BSMR 736 and ICPL 87119) were evaluated and the findings of the research revealed that among three treatments, T, [75 cm x 60 cm + 50 N kg/ha + 100 P,O, kg/ha (split application at 50% as basal and 50% at 60 days after sowing) + two irrigations (during mid-flowering and mid-pod development stage)] delivered significantly higher total seed yield (3469.1 kg/ha) and biomass (7499.1 kg/ha) which is translated into higher harvest index (31.6%). However, the interactive effect of genotype x treatment interaction showed that ICPH 3762 and ICPH 2671 produced significantly greater total seed yield in T, (3753.5 kg/ha and 3719.3 kg/ha). Hybrid ICPH 3762 recorded the highest number of pod clusters (407.9/plant), number of pods (728.3/plant) and seed yield (179.9 g/plant) in T, [150 cm x 30 cm + 50 N kg/ha + 100 P,O, kg/ha (split application at 50% as basal and 50% at 60 days after sowing) + two irrigations (during mid-flowering and mid-pod development stage)]. With regards to genotype x environment interaction, the highest biomass for all the genotypes was obtained in 2012 which significantly translated into higher total seed yield. Similarly, the interactive effect of environment x genotype x treatment showed that highest biomass was produced during 2012 by ICPH 2740 in T, at 9453.6 kg/ha. In this context, the results of the experiment revealed that the cultivation of pigeonpea hybrids and varieties following T, will enhance pigeon pea productivity due to superior agronomic traits.