Identification of Climate Smart Pigeon pea Varieties for Rainfed Alfisols of Telangana, India

Abstract

Pigeon pea is considered an important crop in rainfed and dryland agriculture. It is the most prominent crop under rainfed Alfisols. The duration of variety is a big thing need to be focused on to get more profits in unpredictable rainfall situations. In this regard, the experiment was conducted to evaluate and identify climate-smart Pigeon pea varieties with high-yielding potential suitable for rainfed Alfisols of Telangana State. The study was executed with eight varieties of different maturity duration, replicated thrice in a randomised block design (RBD) for three consecutive years (kharif, 2017 to kharif, 2019). The pooled data revealed that mid-early duration (140-160 days) varieties viz., WRGe-96 (1336 kg ha-1, Rs. 76,668 ha-1 Rs. 45,913 ha-1 and 2.49), WRGe-97 (1271 kg ha-1, Rs. 72,740 ha-1, Rs. 42,312ha-1 and 2.39) and medium duration variety WRG-27 (1237 kg ha-1, Rs.70,742 ha-1 and Rs. 40,243 ha-1 and 2.32) performed better than that of other early (115-125 days) and medium duration (160-180 days) varieties group. Further, a few medium varieties were affected by prolonged dry spells during the terminal stages in the post-monsoon period, resulting in inferior yields. There is a highly positive correlation among the parameters. Cluster analysis showed that medium-duration varieties were similar and at par with mid-early duration varieties, and these were at par with early-duration cultivars.