# Performance Evaluation of Pigeon Pea (Cajanus cajan L. Millsp.) Variety for Registration in the Lowland Areas of Ethiopia

Authors: Tariku Simion; Dembele Ersulo; Asnake Fikre
Journal: Advances in Agriculture
 (2022)

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## Abstract

There were few released pigeon pea varieties in Ethiopia. This study was primarily conducted to diversify the availability of varieties, thus addressing socioeconomic cross-cutting issues. From eight pigeon pea genotypes after continuous evaluation, one variety, including the local check, was promoted with the objectives of evaluating the agronomic performance and registering a new variety in lowland areas of Ethiopia. The study was carried out during the main rain seasons of 2018-2019 to enhance pigeon pea productivity in the study area. A plot size of 10 meters by 10 meters was used in six locations. The spacing between rows and plants was 1.2 and 0.5 meters, respectively. Accordingly to the simple descriptive statistics, there were variabilities in the studied traits among the tested pigeon pea genotypes. The yield advantage of 39% was recorded for the test variety, Ashenafi (ICEAP00554), over the local check, which gave an opportunity to select the best-adapted material for the test and similar agroecologies. From the current study, an average yield of 1.83 t/ha was recorded across locations for a candidate variety, Ashenafi (ICP00554). The grain yield of the local cultivar had a mean of 1.04 t/ha. As a variety, Ashenafi (ICP00554) took the shortest duration to 75% flowering and 90% maturity (115 days and 171 days), respectively. In contrast, the local cultivar (Humbo local) took a long duration to 75% flowering and 90% maturity (164 days and 221 days), respectively. As a variety, Ashenafi (ICP00554) had superior performance over the local cultivar in terms of grain yield and earliness for flowering and maturity. Based on the overall performance, Ashenafi (ICP00554) was selected and registered. Therefore, this variety is recommended to popularize and thereby enhance pigeon pea production.


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## Body

## 1. Introduction

Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan L.) ranked sixth globally after peas, broad beans, lentils, chickpeas, and common beans [1]. Globally, it is cultivated on a 5.4 million hectare land area with an annual production of 4.49 million tons. It is grown in about eighty-two countries in the world. India accounts for about 72耥 of the area grown for pigeon peas [2]. In Africa (Eastern and Southern), pigeon pea is grown on 0.56 million hectares [3]. Pigeon pea is an important crop in Malawi, Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, and Tanzania. It is generally cultivated in association with yam, millet, sorghum, and cassava, among other crops [4].Pigeon pea offers great potential as an economic crop in the economy of some nations, and it constitutes their major cash crop, especially in India and Malawi [5]. It does not only serve as protein for both humans and livestock but also is very useful in the pharmaceutical industry as medicine [6]. Additionally, it is useful in food processing due to its ability to be processed into many forms, such as biscuits, noodles, cookies, flour, and bread, among others [7], thus making it to be highly relevant economically. It is highly attractive to smallholder farmers of rural areas in many developing countries such as Nigeria [8]. This is because pigeon pea can be a source of income for men and women and function as feed for livestock, fencing material for rural dwellers, and uniquely serve as food during the lean period with little or no value addition [9].Pigeon pea is a tropical grain legume and is among the important pulses grown for food, feed, and soil fertility improvement. It is a deep-rooted and drought-tolerant leguminous crop used in several countries as a source of dietary protein [10]. Pigeon pea endowed with rich dietary protein in its seed provides the much-needed protein requirements [11]. The seed contains 18–29% protein on a dry weight basis, which is about three times the value found in cereals, and is closer to soybean, which is 34% [12]. The protein is also of excellent quality, being high in lysine. It is used as a contour hedge in erosion control. The crop is, therefore, an important complement to cereal and root-based diets [13].Despite the attractive attributes and importance of pigeon pea, it is recorded as one of the underutilized crops in Ethiopia. An underutilized crop can be defined as those crops which are marginalized by researchers, farmers, marketers, and consumers due to agronomic, genetic, economic, environmental, and cultural reasons. Underutilized crops might be viewed concerning geographical regions. A crop might be underutilized in some regions but not in others. In Ethiopia, little consideration has been given to the potential of pigeon peas to contribute to the food and income security of poor farming households with insufficient income [14]. There is a dearth of research work on pigeon peas to identify its effective production systems, available modern technology (such as improved varieties with desired traits), nutritional benefits, and value addition. There are limited data sources on its production level in Ethiopia, and hence, no policy framework tailored toward the production of pigeon peas. Meanwhile, pigeon pea is an international good in most Asian countries and constitutes their major staple; but in Ethiopia, it is highly underutilized. One of the identified challenges is the fact that pigeon pea is not competitive compared to the routinely grown legumes such as common bean [15].The facts of the current production of pigeon peas in the study area are, therefore, necessary because of its increasing demand because of recurrent drought. There is a need to understand the current production levels to harness research and policy efforts in the right direction. This study focused on providing information on the current prospects of pigeon pea adaptation and production potential in Ethiopia. It is expected to provide information regarding whether the farmers will cultivate more or reduce the land allotted to pigeon pea production [16]. Although there is no systematic scoring and a national database, it is distributed all over the geographies in the North (Wollo), South East (Bale), Southern Region, Western regions, and central parts of Ethiopia, growing in patches and intercropped [17].The pigeon pea enhancement program started with germplasm introduction from the ICRISAT and neighboring countries to identify high-yielding, disease, and pest-tolerant cultivars. The pigeon pea research in terms of crop improvement is still at a low level in Ethiopia. The production of pigeon peas in the present agroecological area is inadequate due to a scarcity of widely adapted better pigeon pea varieties, both biotic and abiotic aspects, and insufficient scale-up and/or popularization of pigeon pea varieties. Consequently, the evaluation of introduced pigeon pea varieties, particularly for the study area, can be taken as one key step in tackling the shortage of improved pigeon pea varieties and technologies.Hence, considering the importance of pigeon peas in food security and its potential for the future Ethiopian economy, it is important to increase its production and productivity through adaptation and diversifying varieties [18]. Hence, the current research was started to evaluate the adaptation of the introduced pigeon pea varieties, thereby registering in the areas for yield and yield components.


## 2. Materials and Methods

### 2.1. Description of the Study Sites

The experiment was conducted in six locations, Arba Minch, Boreda, Mirab Abaya, Humbo, Dirashe, and Konso, in 2018 and 2019 during the main cropping seasons. The descriptions of experimental locations are summarized (Table1).Table 1
Description of the study locations.
SitesAverage temperature and rainfallAverage elevation (m.a.s.l)Soil typeTemperature (°C)Rainfall (mm)Dirashe25.68952.101253.00Clay-loamArba Minch27.501000.001216.00Sandy-loamMirab Abaya20.001000.001190.00Sandy-loamHumbo20.241175.001401.00ClayKonso27.80800.001189.00Sandy-loamBoreda21.11164.941531.00Clay-loamSource: Zonal Administration Office of Gamo and Konso.


### 2.2. Experimental Materials

Eight pigeon pea accessions were acquired from an International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), India, and evaluated for two cropping seasons in six locations in South Ethiopia. The best-performing accession was selected and advanced for further registry evaluation. The National Variety Releasing Committee of Ethiopia (ENVRC) evaluated the variety of field conditions (Figure1). According to their evaluation result, the best-performing variety, Ashenafi (ICEAP 0055), was officially released in 2020 to be utilized by various end-users in the lowland areas. The mean performance for yield and other agromorphological characters of the candidate variety and the standard check is presented in Tables2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Based on the performance evaluation, ICEAP 00554 was selected and registered. The morphological characteristics of the variety are summarized in Table 7.Figure 1
Field performance of pigeon pea adaptation trail.Table 2
Yield performance (kg ha−1) of pigeon pea genotypes across locations during the 2018 and 2019 cropping seasons, South Ethiopia.
S. No.LocationsLocations mean of local cultivar (Humbo local) for 2018 and 2019 yearsLocations mean of the proposed variety (ICEAP 00554) for 2018 and 2019 yearsThe yield advantage over local cultivar (%) for the 2018 and 2019 years20182019Mean20182019Mean20182019Mean1Dirashe12501200122519602000198036.839.338.12Arba Minch10501030104014701800163528.5727.728.13Mirab Abaya95078086517601600168046.051.148.64Humbo117062089516201320147027.75340.45Konso15001020126018002500215016.659.237.96Boreda14005809902300170020003052.4541.2Mean1220870105018201830182030.947.139.0t-value3.01——2.22—3.40—3.72.2SE32.231.330.837.642.542.945.532.231.3P value<0.001——<0.01—0.0020.0030.01SEM, mean standard error.Table 3
Number of seeds per pod of pigeon pea genotypes across locations during 2018 and 2019 cropping seasons, South Ethiopia.
S.No.LocationLocations mean of local cultivar (Humbo local) for 2018 and 2019 yearsLocations mean of proposed variety (ICEAP 00554) for 2018 and 2019 years20182019Mean20182019Mean1Dirashe4.724.444.585.765.805.782Arba Minch4.844.844.845.765.565.663Mirab Abaya4.444.254.3456.166.526.344Humbo4.483.103.796.005.635.8155Konso4.524.244.386.045.885.966Boreda4.524.334.4256.085.665.87Mean4.584.204.395.965.845.90t-value3.01-5.22.229.23.40SE1.71.45.22.89.91.7P value<0.001-0.03<0.010.0120.002SEM, mean standard error.Table 4
Hundred seed weight (gm) of pigeon pea genotypes across locations during the 2018 and 2019 cropping seasons, South Ethiopia.
S. No.LocationLocations mean of local cultivar (Humbo local) for 2018 and 2019 yearsLocations mean of proposed variety (ICEAP 00554) for 2018 and 2019 years20182019Mean20182019Mean1Dirashe1716.816.91717172Arba Minch141514.51716.716.853Mirab Abaya1513141616164Humbo1513.414.21816175Konso1717.117.05141715.56Boreda171616.5181717.5Mean15.8315.2115.5216.6616.6116.64t-value3.05.14.12.226.73.40SE2.13.211.202.04.215.2P value0.0030.020.040.030.0210.002SEM, mean standard error.Table 5
Days to 75% flowering of pigeon pea genotypes across locations during 2018 and 2019 cropping seasons, South Ethiopia.
S. No.LocationLocations mean of local cultivar (Humbo local) for 2018 and 2019 yearsLocations mean of proposed variety (ICEAP 00554) for 2018 and 2019 years20182019Mean20182019Mean1Dirashe1561581571161181172Arba Minch155178166.5951051003Mirab Abaya1591651621161181174Humbo1621701661181201195Konso160168164115114114.56Boreda172176174127124125.5Mean160.7169.2164.9114.5116.5115.5t-value——3.012.22—3.40SE12.13.211.202.04.215.2P value—<0.001<0.01—0.002SEM, mean standard error.Table 6
Days to 90% maturity of pigeon pea genotypes across locations during the 2018 and 2019 cropping seasons, South Ethiopia.
S. No.LocationLocations mean of local cultivar (Humbo local) for 2018 and 2019 yearsLocations mean of proposed variety (ICEAP 00554) for 2018 and 2019 years20182019Mean20182019Mean1Dirashe201204202.5161162161.52Arba Minch205210207.5150155152.53Mirab Abaya219225222176179177.54Humbo210235222.51781801795Konso210248229175178176.56Boreda242240241187180183.5Mean214.5227220.6171.2172.3171.8t-value——3.012.22—3.40SE2.13.211.202.04.215.2P value——<0.001<0.01—0.002SEM, mean standard error.Table 7
Morphological characteristics of the variety Ashenafi (ICEAP 0055).
S. No.Morphological characteristicsMeasurements or description1Species nameCajanus cajan2Common namePigeon pea3Variety nameICEAP 00554 (Ashenafi)4Plant growth habitNondeterminate and semi-spreading. Under intercropping, the plants remain tall and compact, but when grown under a low population, additional branches develop, giving a semi-spreading appearance.5Stem colorGreen.6LeavesGreen in color and medium in size.7Plant heightSignificantly influenced by temperature. Under warm environments, the plants grow tall but shorter under cool environments.8Days to flowering and maturityTemperatures above 24oC delay flowering and maturity. At optimum temperature for growth, it flowers and matures in about 95–127 days and 150–187 days, respectively.9Flower color of base petalYellow.10The pattern of streaks on a standard petalNo streaks.11Immature podsColor: dark to pale green with no stripes, shape: long and slightly curved, pod constriction: slight, and seeds per pod: 5–7 seeds12Seed sizeLarge with a 100-seed mass of 14–18 g.13Seed colorWhite/cream and uniform in pattern.14Suitability to shellingThe shellability of green pods is excellent, making them highly preferred by farmers.15Dehulling %It has an excellent dehulling quality of up to 85% and is, therefore, suitable for processing.16Potential yieldImmature and dry grain is 6–10t ha−1 and 1.8–3.4 t ha−1, respectively.17Suitability to ratoonSuitable.18Target areas of productionVariety ICEAP 00557 (Ashenafi) is widely adapted across semiarid environments. It is recommended for cultivation in areas with an annual rainfall of (400–900) mm. It grows well at an altitude between 400 and 1800 m above sea level.19Source of breeder’s seedICRISAT Nairobi, P O Box 39063, Nairobi-00623


### 2.3. Experimental Design, Data Analysis, and Field Layout

Two pigeon pea varieties were evaluated against the local check (farmer cultivar) at Arba Minch, Mirab Abaya, Konso, Dirashe, Boreda, and Humbo locations during the 2020 main cropping season in Ethiopia. A large plot size without replicates was used. The plot size was 10 m x 10 m of 1.2 m between rows and 0.5 meters between plants. A seed amount of 3 kg ha−1 and fertilizer rate of 100 kg ha−1 NPS were used. Data on days to 75% flowering and days to 90% maturity were measured on a plot base. Plant height and panicle length were measured in centimeters on five randomly selected plants base per plot. Grain yield produced per plot. A thousand seeds’ weight was measured by randomly taking a thousand seeds from a plot after threshing. The t-test was applied to compare the average performance varieties. The analysis was conducted using GenStat 18th edition version software.


## 2.1. Description of the Study Sites

The experiment was conducted in six locations, Arba Minch, Boreda, Mirab Abaya, Humbo, Dirashe, and Konso, in 2018 and 2019 during the main cropping seasons. The descriptions of experimental locations are summarized (Table1).Table 1
Description of the study locations.
SitesAverage temperature and rainfallAverage elevation (m.a.s.l)Soil typeTemperature (°C)Rainfall (mm)Dirashe25.68952.101253.00Clay-loamArba Minch27.501000.001216.00Sandy-loamMirab Abaya20.001000.001190.00Sandy-loamHumbo20.241175.001401.00ClayKonso27.80800.001189.00Sandy-loamBoreda21.11164.941531.00Clay-loamSource: Zonal Administration Office of Gamo and Konso.


## 2.2. Experimental Materials

Eight pigeon pea accessions were acquired from an International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), India, and evaluated for two cropping seasons in six locations in South Ethiopia. The best-performing accession was selected and advanced for further registry evaluation. The National Variety Releasing Committee of Ethiopia (ENVRC) evaluated the variety of field conditions (Figure1). According to their evaluation result, the best-performing variety, Ashenafi (ICEAP 0055), was officially released in 2020 to be utilized by various end-users in the lowland areas. The mean performance for yield and other agromorphological characters of the candidate variety and the standard check is presented in Tables2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Based on the performance evaluation, ICEAP 00554 was selected and registered. The morphological characteristics of the variety are summarized in Table 7.Figure 1
Field performance of pigeon pea adaptation trail.Table 2
Yield performance (kg ha−1) of pigeon pea genotypes across locations during the 2018 and 2019 cropping seasons, South Ethiopia.
S. No.LocationsLocations mean of local cultivar (Humbo local) for 2018 and 2019 yearsLocations mean of the proposed variety (ICEAP 00554) for 2018 and 2019 yearsThe yield advantage over local cultivar (%) for the 2018 and 2019 years20182019Mean20182019Mean20182019Mean1Dirashe12501200122519602000198036.839.338.12Arba Minch10501030104014701800163528.5727.728.13Mirab Abaya95078086517601600168046.051.148.64Humbo117062089516201320147027.75340.45Konso15001020126018002500215016.659.237.96Boreda14005809902300170020003052.4541.2Mean1220870105018201830182030.947.139.0t-value3.01——2.22—3.40—3.72.2SE32.231.330.837.642.542.945.532.231.3P value<0.001——<0.01—0.0020.0030.01SEM, mean standard error.Table 3
Number of seeds per pod of pigeon pea genotypes across locations during 2018 and 2019 cropping seasons, South Ethiopia.
S.No.LocationLocations mean of local cultivar (Humbo local) for 2018 and 2019 yearsLocations mean of proposed variety (ICEAP 00554) for 2018 and 2019 years20182019Mean20182019Mean1Dirashe4.724.444.585.765.805.782Arba Minch4.844.844.845.765.565.663Mirab Abaya4.444.254.3456.166.526.344Humbo4.483.103.796.005.635.8155Konso4.524.244.386.045.885.966Boreda4.524.334.4256.085.665.87Mean4.584.204.395.965.845.90t-value3.01-5.22.229.23.40SE1.71.45.22.89.91.7P value<0.001-0.03<0.010.0120.002SEM, mean standard error.Table 4
Hundred seed weight (gm) of pigeon pea genotypes across locations during the 2018 and 2019 cropping seasons, South Ethiopia.
S. No.LocationLocations mean of local cultivar (Humbo local) for 2018 and 2019 yearsLocations mean of proposed variety (ICEAP 00554) for 2018 and 2019 years20182019Mean20182019Mean1Dirashe1716.816.91717172Arba Minch141514.51716.716.853Mirab Abaya1513141616164Humbo1513.414.21816175Konso1717.117.05141715.56Boreda171616.5181717.5Mean15.8315.2115.5216.6616.6116.64t-value3.05.14.12.226.73.40SE2.13.211.202.04.215.2P value0.0030.020.040.030.0210.002SEM, mean standard error.Table 5
Days to 75% flowering of pigeon pea genotypes across locations during 2018 and 2019 cropping seasons, South Ethiopia.
S. No.LocationLocations mean of local cultivar (Humbo local) for 2018 and 2019 yearsLocations mean of proposed variety (ICEAP 00554) for 2018 and 2019 years20182019Mean20182019Mean1Dirashe1561581571161181172Arba Minch155178166.5951051003Mirab Abaya1591651621161181174Humbo1621701661181201195Konso160168164115114114.56Boreda172176174127124125.5Mean160.7169.2164.9114.5116.5115.5t-value——3.012.22—3.40SE12.13.211.202.04.215.2P value—<0.001<0.01—0.002SEM, mean standard error.Table 6
Days to 90% maturity of pigeon pea genotypes across locations during the 2018 and 2019 cropping seasons, South Ethiopia.
S. No.LocationLocations mean of local cultivar (Humbo local) for 2018 and 2019 yearsLocations mean of proposed variety (ICEAP 00554) for 2018 and 2019 years20182019Mean20182019Mean1Dirashe201204202.5161162161.52Arba Minch205210207.5150155152.53Mirab Abaya219225222176179177.54Humbo210235222.51781801795Konso210248229175178176.56Boreda242240241187180183.5Mean214.5227220.6171.2172.3171.8t-value——3.012.22—3.40SE2.13.211.202.04.215.2P value——<0.001<0.01—0.002SEM, mean standard error.Table 7
Morphological characteristics of the variety Ashenafi (ICEAP 0055).
S. No.Morphological characteristicsMeasurements or description1Species nameCajanus cajan2Common namePigeon pea3Variety nameICEAP 00554 (Ashenafi)4Plant growth habitNondeterminate and semi-spreading. Under intercropping, the plants remain tall and compact, but when grown under a low population, additional branches develop, giving a semi-spreading appearance.5Stem colorGreen.6LeavesGreen in color and medium in size.7Plant heightSignificantly influenced by temperature. Under warm environments, the plants grow tall but shorter under cool environments.8Days to flowering and maturityTemperatures above 24oC delay flowering and maturity. At optimum temperature for growth, it flowers and matures in about 95–127 days and 150–187 days, respectively.9Flower color of base petalYellow.10The pattern of streaks on a standard petalNo streaks.11Immature podsColor: dark to pale green with no stripes, shape: long and slightly curved, pod constriction: slight, and seeds per pod: 5–7 seeds12Seed sizeLarge with a 100-seed mass of 14–18 g.13Seed colorWhite/cream and uniform in pattern.14Suitability to shellingThe shellability of green pods is excellent, making them highly preferred by farmers.15Dehulling %It has an excellent dehulling quality of up to 85% and is, therefore, suitable for processing.16Potential yieldImmature and dry grain is 6–10t ha−1 and 1.8–3.4 t ha−1, respectively.17Suitability to ratoonSuitable.18Target areas of productionVariety ICEAP 00557 (Ashenafi) is widely adapted across semiarid environments. It is recommended for cultivation in areas with an annual rainfall of (400–900) mm. It grows well at an altitude between 400 and 1800 m above sea level.19Source of breeder’s seedICRISAT Nairobi, P O Box 39063, Nairobi-00623


## 2.3. Experimental Design, Data Analysis, and Field Layout

Two pigeon pea varieties were evaluated against the local check (farmer cultivar) at Arba Minch, Mirab Abaya, Konso, Dirashe, Boreda, and Humbo locations during the 2020 main cropping season in Ethiopia. A large plot size without replicates was used. The plot size was 10 m x 10 m of 1.2 m between rows and 0.5 meters between plants. A seed amount of 3 kg ha−1 and fertilizer rate of 100 kg ha−1 NPS were used. Data on days to 75% flowering and days to 90% maturity were measured on a plot base. Plant height and panicle length were measured in centimeters on five randomly selected plants base per plot. Grain yield produced per plot. A thousand seeds’ weight was measured by randomly taking a thousand seeds from a plot after threshing. The t-test was applied to compare the average performance varieties. The analysis was conducted using GenStat 18th edition version software.


## 3. Results and Discussion

The mean performance of the varieties for all locations is presented (Tables2–6). The result revealed that the variety, Ashenafi (ICEAP00554), was superior to the local cultivar (Humbo local) in all locations for yield and other studied traits. An average grain yield of 1820 kg ha−1 was recorded for a variety, Ashenafi (ICEAP00554), over locations. The grain yield of the local cultivar (Humbo local) ranges from 870 to 1220 kg ha−1 (Table 2).The information generated from the simple descriptive statistics revealed that there were variabilities in the studied traits among the tested pigeon pea genotypes. The yield advantage of 39% was recorded for the test variety, Ashenafi (ICEAP00554), over the local check, which gave an opportunity to select the best-adapted material for the test and similar agroecologies.The result of this study revealed the new variety had a grain yield advantage over the poor-performing local variety (Humbo cultivar). The number of average seeds per plant varied from 4.39 for Humbo local to 5.9 for ICEAP00554 (Table3), and the average hundred seeds weight ranged from 16.7 g for Humbo cultivar to 17.5 g for Ashenafi (ICEAP00554) (Table 4). Numerous authors also reported the variance performance of genotypes in different and alike/similar locations for different traits for various crops [19, 20]; [17, 21, 22].The result from this study indicated the various performance of varieties from location to location and from year to year. The yield performance of the local variety ranged from 580 kg ha−1 at Boreda in 2019 to 1500 kg ha−1 at Konso in 2018. While the new variety ranged from 1320 kg ha−1 at Humbo to 2500 kg ha−1 at Konso in 2019. From the current result, we can conclude that the locations and the years had various effects on the performance of varieties. Other researchers also reported the effect of environments and years on the performance of genotypes for different traits for various crops [17, 22].There was a considerable difference for days to 75% flowering, 90% maturity, and average grain yield among studied varieties, indicative of vital selection in the future improvement and breeding program (Figure2).Figure 2
Comparison of important traits of pigeon pea varieties. DF, days to 75% flowering; DM, days to 90% maturity, HSW (gm), hundred seed weight; SPP, number of seeds per pod; GY (kg ha−1), grain yield measured in kg.The average mean number of seeds per pod significantly varies from 4.39 for Humbo local to 5.90 for ICEAP 00554. This indicated the varieties are not similar in their performance for the studied traits (Table2). Other authors also reported different ranges of performance of varieties for the number of seeds per pod [17]. The performance of the local variety ranged from 4.44 in 2018 to 4.84 in 2019 at Mirab Abaya. The performance of the new variety ranged from 5.56 in 2019 at Arba Minch to 6.52 in 2019 at Mirab Abaya.The average hundred seed weight also varies from genotype to genotype. The performance varies from 15.52 for Humbo local to 16.64 for ICEAP 00554. This indicated the variability of performance for these traits (Table3). A similar, significantly different genetic variability study of pigeon peas was reported by another author [17].Days to flowering and maturity, in addition to grain yield, are important characteristics of crops that are considered before the release of a variety. Early flowering, maturity, and grain yield performance of the crops ensure the advantage of a given variety in the crop production system. The development of early maturing variety is not only important for pigeon pea crop improvement but also for climate mitigation as a drought escaping mechanism for areas with marginal rainfall patterns [23]. In the present study, the variety Ashenafi (ICEAP00554) showed significantly the shortest duration of flowering (115 days) and maturity (171 days) compared to the local cultivar (Humbo local), which takes 164 and 221 days to flower and mature, respectively.There was a considerable variance for days to 90% maturity and 75% flowering among the varieties, suggesting the variety Ashenafi (ICEAP00554) is grouped under a short maturity and flowering duration type and early-type variety (Tables5 and 6) and can be used in different resource shortage areas. Comparable results by Zeru et al. [17] were reported for the differential performance of pigeon pea varieties for different traits in different environments. A large variation in the performance of different traits explained among varieties indicated that the varieties were diverse.Days to 90% maturity were affected by environmental and year variation. This study indicated the different performances of varieties from location to location and from year to year. The days to 90% maturity of the local variety ranged from 201 days at Derashe in 2018 to 229 at Konso in 2019. While, the new variety ranged from 161 days at Derashe in 2018 to 187 days at Boreda in 2018. From the current result, we can conclude that the environmental variation had effects on the varieties. Other researchers also reported the effect of environments on maturity [24].


## 4. Conclusion

This research was conducted to evaluate the performance of the pigeon pea varieties for registration purposes. A local cultivar (Humbo local) was included for comparison for grain yield and other agronomic performance. This is to enhance pigeon pea productivity in the study areas and other similar agroecologies. The variety Ashenafi (ICEAP00554) showed superior performance in overall studied traits. It was better performed in grain yield with a yield advantage of 39% and earliest compared with local cultivars. Based on the results obtained, it is registered and recommended for demonstration and popularization to increase pigeon pea production. Due to the multiuse nature of pigeon peas (foodstuff, forage, firewood, fence, and soil fertility improvement), research and development should work as a basic issue of the lowland pulses research program. Genetic resources are prerequisites to be exploited for further characterization and identification of useful traits in pigeon pea improvement programs. Hence, the introduction, validation, and commercialization are suggested in diverse areas for commercial production and upcoming improvement of pigeon peas and its final influence on the livelihood of farmers and stakeholders in the country [25–28].



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*Source: 7013602-2022-09-22.xml*