Seeding technique
Pigeonpea is sensitive to excessive moisture, and proper land levelling and good seed-bed preparation are necessary. Two or three ploughings folllowed by planking are adequate.
In rainfed areas sowing is done with the onset of the monsoon in kharif. However,sowings from the first week of June to the second week of July are considered best. Generally, delay in sowing beyond 15 July not only reduces the plant height and total dry matter but also decreases the number of pods per plant. Therefore, it is suggested that the sowing be organised either with pre-sowing irrigation or immediately with the onset of the monsoon but never beyond the last week of July.
The traditional long-duration types are preferred for mixed cropping with kharif crops, like sorghum, pearlmillet, maize, rice, fingermillet, and other pulse crops. However, if pigeonpea is grown in a double-cropping system either in rainfed areas or with limited irrigation, one should choose the earliest maturing varieties. Extra-early varieties (120-140 days) can mature in time even under delayed sowing and thus vacate the fields for timely sowing of wheat/mustard, etc. Performance of extra-early varieties, however, is poor in high-rainfall areas. Cloudy weather and heavy rains at the time of flowering and fruiting result in poor pod setting and filling together with increased damage by the pod-borers. With long duration varieties,spacing of 75 cm between rows and 30 cm between plants, and with the short-duration varieties spacing of 30 cm betweem rows and 20 cm between plants is optimum. However, under dryland/rainfed conditions, row distance could be widened up to 90 cm particularly with the tall, spreading, long-duration varieties; plant-to-plant distance within the rows should be maintained at 30 cm. The depth of sowing should be maintained at 4-6 cm. Although, the seed rate would depend upon the seed size of the variety, the normal seed rate varies between 20 and 30 kg/ha.

Application of fertilizers
A starter dose of 15-20 kg nitrogen/ha needs to be given to ensure quick, early growth of the crops. Such a starter dose however, may not be necessary, if the previous crop was either a legume, or a non-legume crop which had received a heavy dose of nitrogen. For early and effective nodulation seed treatment with Rhizobium is recommended. Application of phosphatic fertilizers @ 40-50 kg P₂O₅/ha by placing it 6-10 cm below the recommended. In case of mixed cropping, an additional dose of 20 kg P₂O₅/ha at the time of sowing will be beneficial to both the constituent crops.

Weed control
Pigeonpea is a slow-growing crop during the first 6-8 weeks, and 2 harrowings during this period would be adequate to check weed growth. However, since the major area of pigeonpea is grown during the monsoon season, incessant rains may sometimes interfere with harrowings. Under such conditions, it would be necessary to use herbicides for control of weeds. Lasso or Tok E-25 is applied @ 1.0 kg ai/ha is effective in controlling weeds.

Irrigation

Normally the crop is grown under dryland conditons and is fairly drought-tolerant. However, the crop does respond to irrigation. Two irrigations,one at flower-initiation stage, and other a pod-filling stage, are recommended. In areas where irrigation resources are available, the approach would be to increase the area under irrigated pigeonpea. Water may be made available to the farmers from mid-May or June for undertaking sowing operations.The subsequent irrigations may be required in September/October and December.

Rabi pigeonpea: Post-monsoon sowing
It is also possible to shift pigeonpea cultivation to the post-monsoon season. The July-sown crops shows excessive vegetative growth, is badly damaged by the heavy rains in these regions, and the incidence of diseases and pests is also very high. The early-maturing varieties are also badly damaged by thelate rains (known as hathia rains) received in October at the time of full bloom. Instead of growing pigeonpea as a sole kharif or a mixed crop, it can be sown in September, after the harvest of maize. The late varieties, which grow tall and produce profuse branches when sown during the monsoon, are suitable for September sowing because of reduced growth period. Consequently, the crop is better manageable, responds better to higher density (up to 2 lakh plants/ha) and irrigation,and gives grain yield of 30-35 q/ha.

Seeding technique. The optimum time of sowing has been found to be from 5 to 20 September; sowing beyond 20 September leads to a poor harvest. Similarly, sowing before 5 September produces taller plants with lesser number of pods coupled with delayed podding and maturity. Row spacing of 25 cm and plant-to-plant spacing of 20 cm is optimum. Seeds may be sown @ 50 kg/ha, and depth of 5 cm.

Application of fertilizers. Agood supply of nutrients in the soil has to be ensured. In general, 30 kg nitrogen and 50 kg phosphorus per hectare are recommended. Of this, 20 kg of nitrogen and full dose of phosphorus should be applied at the time of sowing, and the balance of 10 kg nitrogen should be applied as top-dressing. Application of diammonium phosphate (DAP) is better than fertilizer mixtures. Seed treatment with efficient Rhizobium culture needs to be popularized. For control of teermites, 25 kg of 5% Aldrin, 6% Heptachlor or 10% BHC
may be mixed with the fertilizer.

Insect pests
1.Pod-borer [Heliothis armigera (Hb)]. It is a polyphagous pest and attacks many agricultural crops including food legumes. It causes considerable damage to pigeonpea, especially the early-maturing varieties. The young larvae may remain on the leaf surface for a short while and later move to the inflorescence to feed upon the flowers,buds and young pods.Maggots feed on the seeds. When it is fully grown,it feeds upon the grain from outside the pod on which it can be easily seen. Spraying insecticides like Endosulfan (0.07%) or Malathion (0.05%) or Carbaryl (0.1%),or dusting with 10% DDT or 10% BHC @ 25kg/ha,provides good protection.

2.Pod-fly (Melanagromyza ebtusa M.). It is a very serious pest of pigeonpea throughout the country. It causes extensive damage to the crop as its larvae feed on the soft grains within the pod,making them unfit for consumption.Outwardly the symptoms are exhibited as minute punctures on the pod wall surface. Depredations of the fly generally remain unnoticed by the farmers owing to the latent mode of life within the pod. The adult fly emerges from the membranous portion making a very small hole on the pod surface.
Spraying the crop once or twice during the pod-formation stage with a systemic insecticide,like 0.04% Monocrotophos or 0.03% Dimethoate emulsion,is effective in controlling pod-fly. These chemicals are also effective in controlling the incidence of plume-moth (Exelastis atomosaMeyr.)which also occurs commonly along with pod-fly in pigeonpea.

3.Hairy-caterpillar. The hairy caterpillars are voracious feeders and defoliate the plants causing heavy losses to the crop. Dusting of BHC 10% @ 25 kh/ha or spraying of 0.06% Diazinon emulsion controls the pest incidence.

Diseases
1.Vascular-wilt. Wilt caused by the fungus Fusarium udum Butler var.cajani Padwick is characterized by gradual wilting of plants. The leaves on lower branches of the affected plants turn yellow and show signs of drying. Later,growing points droop down and the plants get killed.The withering and drying-up symptoms appear as if the plants were suffering from drought. Addition of manganese (100-200 ppm) to the infested soil prevents infection.Sanitary measures like riguing and burning of plants reduce disease incidence.As the fungus is soil-borne,rotation of crop for 4 to 5 years effectively reduces pathogen population and the extent of damage.Pigeonpea grown as a mixed crop with sorghum escapes the severe incidence of wilt disease.In the wilt-prone areas,varieties like 'NP(WR)15','C 11' and 'IC 8863'.which have shown resistance under field conditions should be grown.

2.Stem-blight.Blight caused by the fungus Phytophthora drechslerivar. cajani Pal,Grewal & Sorbhoy,produces irregular to circular grey spots surrounded by brown lesions on the stem.Plant parts above the girdled portion dry up. The leaves roll and fall off.Young infected plants turn light to dark brown and look like wilted plants.High humidity,rainfall and storm water stagnation during the monsoon favour disease spread.All short-duration varieties are highly susceptible to blight.Growing of blight-resistant varieties,like 'Pusa 3' ('AS 3'),may be adopted.Poor drainage and stagnation of rainwater in the fields during the monsoon need to be avoided. Application of potash fertilizer (K₂SO₄) @ 25-50 kg/ha reduces the disease incidence.

3.Powdery-mildew. The symptoms appear as dull red irregular spots, limited by leaf veins on the upper surface of the leaf. White powdery-mildew patches appear on the upper surface of the leaves. The infected leaves dry up and fall off.Sulphur dusting @ 30 kg/ha checks the spread of diseases.

4.Sterility-mosaic. This viral disease has become important in recent years and its prevalence has exceeded 50% in certain areas of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.The disease is characterized by mottling of leaves with mosaic pattern followed by partial and total sterility.
The affected plants become stunted,bushy and pale green,and are characterized by profuse,upright vegetative growth and lack of flowering branches.The disease is transmitted through a mite vector,Aceriacajani Channa.Mites can be controlled by spraying with 0.1% Metasystox. Removal od old and volunteer plants before sowing of crop would help in restricting the population of mites.Commercial varieties show various degrees of susceptibility.The strains '6986','6987','3784' and '7035' from the ICRISAT;'Hyd 3' from the IARI; and 'Bahar'from Bihar have shown good resistance and need to be popularized and used in breeding programmes.