Forage yield and quality in pigeonpea germplasm lines

Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) is an important grain legume of the semi-arid tropics (SAT) that is well adapted to drought periods and that can also be grown on marginal land and requires generally few inputs. Particularly this last aspect made pigeonpea a key crop for large-scale land reclamation in China. Fodder scarcity is prevalent in many areas of the SAT and pigeonpea could well contribute to improved feed resources when used for such natural resource management purposes. Since information available on pigeonpea as forage crop was poor, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) started collaborative work to systematically investigate its forage potential. This collaboration combined livestock productivity trials with the agronomic testing of a wide range of pigeonpe