Compensatory growth and yield of pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) following pod removal at different stages of reproductive growth

Abstract

SUMMARYAll the pods on pigeon-pea plants were removed after 1, 2 or 3 weeks of flowering in a pot experiment and in one field trial, in order to evaluate the compensatory ability of the crop under humid tropical conditions.Pod removal after 1 or 2 weeks of flowering led to an immediate significantly higher vegetative development and dry-matter accumulation compared with the control. Subsequent flowering led to greater pod production and pod yield than the control with seed yield increased by 21 and 50%, respectively, in the pot experiment while pod removal after 1 week of flowering increased seed yield by 15% in the field. The removal of pods after 3 weeks of flowering was detrimental to subsequent pod development and seed yield which was decreased by 56 and 34% in the pot and field experiments, respectively.It would seem that the loss of pods produced soon after flowering starts, before active pod filling begins, can be tolerated by pigeon peas, whereas the loss of fully elongated and actively filling pods would significantly reduce seed yield in the crop.