Pigeonpea improvement

Summary

This study was commissioned by ACIAR to evaluate the economic impact of two projects (8201 and 8567) for which ACIAR provided support from 1982-89. These projects were aimed at the improvement of the grain yield potential of pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) using modern plant breeding,
along with associated physiological, agronomic, processing and
socioeconomic research. The commissioned organisation in Australia was the University of Queensland. The partners were: Fiji: Ministry of Primary Industries, Native Land Development Corporation; Indonesia: Central Research Institute for Food Crops, Agency for Agricultural Research and Development; India: Indian Council for Agricultural Research, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics; Thailand: Field Crops Research Institute, Department of Agriculture, Kasetsart University, Prince of Songkla University, Chiang Mai University. The initial project was the first formal ACIAR collaborative research project. It aimed to (i) develop widely adapted short-season pigeonpea
(SSPP) to replace the traditional longer-season cultivars, and (ii) to design management strategies which allowed their full grain yield potential to be realised and demonstrated. Prior to the ACIAR projects the University of Queensland team was targeting their research on these technology options primarily for Australia. The ACIAR projects broadened the scientific and geographic scope of the work to the above four developing countries.