Assessment of the effect of ratooning pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.) in the lowland tropics

Abstract

SummaryPigeon pea (variety Cita-1) was sown on ridges at two plantings in the early and late seasons of 1983 at the University of Ibadan, Two to three weeks after the plants reached maturity and the pods had been harvested by hand-picking, the plants were either ratooned by cutting off the tops at a height of 30 and 60 cm or left intact.At the end of the first and second regrowths, the plants ratooned at 30 and 60 cm had performed better than those left intact in terms of growth and yield characters as well as seed yield. However, the plants ratooned at 30 cm performed best followed by those ratooned at 60 cm. The total seed yield from the planting was 3–6 times higher than if the crop had been harvested once.It would seem that ratooning at 30 cm would give the highest returns from a single planting under the prevailing lowland tropical conditions.