Impact of Establishment Techniques and Maturity Duration of Pigeon Pea Cultivars on Yield, Water Productivity and Properties of Soil

India is the leading country with respect to area and production of pulse crop pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan L.). However, the productivity of this crop is too low and almost static for the last five decades due to cultivation of long-duration cultivars that are prone to climatic variations causing temporary water logging, drought and frost. Proper selection of the cultivar and use of appropriate crop establishment may help in enhancing productivity. Therefore, a field investigation was carried out for 3 consecutive years to determine the impact of establishment techniques on cultivars of two maturity durations—long (250–280 days; cv. JA-4) and short (130–145 days; cv. ICPL-88039), grown using the conventional tillage (CT), minimum tillage (MT), zero tillage (ZT) and broad bed furrow (BBF). The BBF method significantly improved the growth, biological yield, harvest index ratio, water productivity and physicochemical properties compared to the CT, MT and ZT. The yield of pigeon pea seed and stalk under the BBF increased 9.9 and 4.1% compared to the CT. The short-duration cultivar produced higher yield (16.8%) in frost-affected year (2012–2013) but was at par with the long-duration cultivar during the normal climatic condition year (2013–2015). Overall, the short-duration cultivar produced significantly higher yield. Land use efficiency and total water use were significantly higher for the long-duration cultivar a compared to the short-duration cultivar, whereas production efficiency and water productivity were higher for the short-duration cultivar. Compared to the other tillage practices, BBF showed significantly higher organic carbon and infiltration rate but decreased pH. The trend of infiltration rate was in the order BBF > ZT > MT > CT. The bulk density of surface (0–15 cm) and sub-surface (15–30 cm) layers were significantly lower under the BBF compared to the other tillage practices. Maximum increment of available N, P, K and S in surface soil (0–15 cm) was recorded under the BBF. For the short-duration maturity cultivar of pigeon pea the BBF method appeared beneficial in terms of assured higher yield, improved water productivity and physicochemical properties of soil under variable climatic conditions in Central India.