ASSESSMENT OF LONG DURATION PIGEON PEA (Cajanuscajan) VARIETIES WITHSTAND DROUGHT AND WILT DISEASE IN RAINFED REGION OF NORTH EASTERN ZONE OF TAMIL NADU

A study was conducted for evaluation of different long duration and high yielding pigeonpea varieties in rainfed region of North Eastern Zone of Tamil Nadu to assess its drought and wilt disease tolerance. The field trials were conducted at Vellore district, Tamil Nadu during Kharif season 2017-18using improved varieties along with ruling verities as comparative check. The experimental plot was laid out in Randomized Block Design (RBD) and replicated in five times with the improved varieties of LRG 41, LRG 52 and CO-8 that are conferred for rainfed condition along withruling pigeonpea variety CO-7 as Farmers practices. During the study, the recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) was applied as per crop production guide. The growth and yield attributes viz.,plant height (cm), number of primary and secondary branches per plant, number of pods per plant, seed yield (kg/ha), Stover yield (kg/ha)were recorded. The wilt disease caused by Fusarium udum Butler which is predominant yield limiting disease was also recorded. The results on field level performance the genotypes revealed that the pigeonpea CO 8 was recorded maximum plant height (184.2 cm), higher number of primary branches per plant (16.7), secondary branches per plant (29.5), number of pods per plant (279.8), minimum incidence (7.0 %) wilt disease with higher yield of 1290 kg/ha was gained. Based on the on farm trial results, it could be concluded that the long duration pigeonpea variety CO 8 was found to be better option for achieving higher productivity and profitability under the rainfed region of North Eastern Zone of Tamil Nadu.