A Simple Shift in Pigeonpea Planting Could Boost Yield by 20 Percent
Transplanting Pigeonpea could significantly boost farmer incomes and climate resilience across India’s rainfed regions.
New research by ICRISAT shows that transplanting pigeonpea can increase yields by nearly 20 percent, raising productivity from about 2.5 tonnes per hectare to 3 tonnes per hectare, while reducing climate risk and shortening crop duration.
Instead of sowing seeds directly into the field, transplanting involves first raising young pigeonpea plants in a small nursery and then moving these healthy seedlings into the main field at the right time.
This enables farmers to establish stronger plants earlier in the season, make better use of available soil moisture, and protect crops from early-season drought and uneven rains.
Pigeonpea is predominantly grown under rainfed conditions, yet productivity remains low, typically 0.8 to 0.9 tonnes per hectare, against a potential of 1.8 to 2.5 tonnes per hectare.
This gap exists largely because current farming practices do not fully support the crop’s potential.
ICRISAT’s research shows that transplanting pigeonpea can sustainably close this yield gap while strengthening climate resilience.
Emphasizing the potential of this advance, ICRISAT Director General Dr Himanshu Pathak said that transplanting is an age-old practice that has transformed irrigated crops such as rice.
“Our research now shows that it can do the same for crops like pigeonpea, unlocking the crop’s full commercial productivity potential under rainfed conditions,” said Dr Pathak.
Field trials at ICRISAT demonstrated a clear productivity advantage for transplanted crops, which consistently outperformed direct-seeded crops across varying climatic conditions.
This gain is largely attributed to the stronger and better-developed root systems of transplanted seedlings, which improve nutrient and water uptake and enhance resilience to climate variability.
ICRISAT Deputy Director General – Research & Innovation, Dr Stanford Blade, said transplanting also shortens crop duration by around 12–18 days, enabling earlier maturity and reducing exposure to low soil moisture during the post-rainy season.
“The approach is both viable and immediately scalable, allowing farmers to adapt to climate variability with minimal additional inputs or infrastructure,"
"Sometimes, the best solution isn’t a new innovation, it’s returning to basic science,” said Dr Blade.
The priority now is ensuring this proven practice reaches farmers at scale.
To support large-scale adoption, ICRISAT convened a multi-stakeholder consultation to standardize transplanting protocols and promote climate-resilient technologies for sustainable pigeonpea production in Odisha.
The consultation brought together research institutions, extension agencies, government officials, and farmer representatives involved in the trials and scale-up process.
Release of Seedling Transplanting Protocol for Pigeonpea
A Seedling Transplanting Protocols for Sustainable Pigeonpea Production in the Semi-Arid Tropics, marking a significant milestone in standardizing transplanting practices and ensuring quality and consistency in field implementation.
At the event, Dr Pathak officially released the Seedling Transplanting Protocols for Sustainable Pigeonpea Production in the Semi-Arid Tropics during the inaugural session, marking a significant milestone in standardizing transplanting practices and ensuring quality and consistency in field implementation.
“We are extremely encouraged by the project’s progress, particularly the field trial results and the positive feedback from research partners and farmers,” said Mr Arun Kumar Behera, representing the Department of Agriculture, Government of Odisha.
The research and field trials were led by ICRISAT scientists Dr Ramesh Singh, Theme Leader – Regenerative Landscapes; Dr Shalander Kumar, Deputy Global Research Program Director – Transforming Agrifood Systems; and Dr Gajanan Sawargaonkar, Principal Scientist – Systems Agronomy.
This work aligns with SDGs 2, 12, 13 and 17.
