Growth, development and yield of pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.) in the lowland tropics: 4. Effect of sowing depth

Abstract

SUMMARYThe seeds of a dwarf variety of pigeon pea (cv. Cita-1) were sown at 2, 4, 6 or 8 cm depths in three field trials in 1981 and 1982, in order to evaluate the effect of sowing depth on seedling emergence and the subsequent growth, development and yield of the crop.In all trials, sowing pigeon-pea seeds deeper than 4 cm led to 1–2 days delay in seedling emergence, resulted in only 40–68% seedling emergence, reduced the development of the various growth and yield characters of the plant and significantly reduced seed yield. In two trials, plants from 4 cm sowing performed better than those from 2cm sowing in terms of development of growth and yield characters indicating that shallow sowing of pigeon pea prevents rapid and proper plant establishment.The results therefore indicate that the optimum sowing depth for pigeon pea is 4 cm under the prevailing lowland humid tropical conditions.