Hogh-Jensen, H. and Myaka, F.A. and Sakala, W.D. and Kamalongo, D. and Ngwira, A. and Vesterager, J.M. and Odgaard, R. and Adu-Gyamfi, J.J. (2007) Yields and qualities of pigeonpea varieties grown under smallholder farmers' conditions in Eastern and Southern Africa. African Journal of Agricultural Research, 2 (6). pp. 269-278.
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Abstract
Pigeonpea is one of the few crops with a high potential for resource-poor farmers due to its complementary resource use when intercropped with maize. A three year comprehensive comparative study on the performance of six pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) varieties on farmers' fields in Eastern and Southern Africa where intercropping with maize is normal practice, was undertaken. The varieties were tested for accumulation of dry matter (DM), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in all above-ground organs for three years under farmers' conditions. The study revealed that the latest introduced ICEAP 00040 outperformed all the other tested varieties (ICP 9145; ICEAP 00020, ICEAP 00053, ICEAP 00068, and a local variety called "Babati White") under farmer-managed conditions. The harvest indices (HI), ranging from 0.08-0.15 on dry matter (DM) basis, were relatively low and unaffected (P>0.05) by the environmental variation. The N harvest index (NHI) was 0.28 and P harvest index (PHI) was 0.19. The better responses of ICEAP 00040 to favourable conditions could however only be realised in a minority of cases as yields generally were low. These low yields are still a major challenge in African smallholder agriculture as pulses play an important role in soil fertility maintenance as well as in the household diets.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Author Affiliation: | Department of Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Hjbakkegaard Allé 9, DK-2630 Taastrup, Denmark |
| Subjects: | Plant Production > Production Practices Crop Improvement |
| Divisions: | Pigeonpea |
| Depositing User: | Mr B Krishnamurthy |
| Date Deposited: | 20 Dec 2010 17:51 |
| Last Modified: | 09 Jan 2011 19:33 |
| Official URL: | http://www.academicjournals.org/ajar/PDF/Pdf2007/J... |
| URI: | http://eprints.icrisat.ac.in/id/eprint/1062 |
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