R. Nagajothi, S. Jidhu Vaishnavi and U. Bangarusamy
Abstract
Pigeonpea is one of the important grain legumes grown in India under rainfed areas which experience erratic rainfall and hence identifying the genotypes to suit the water deficit environments is of prime importance. An experiment was conducted to assess the drought tolerance ability of eighteen pigeonpea genotypes. The genotypes COPH 2, ICPL 12755, ICPL 12974, ICPL 11175, VBN 2 and VRG62 under moisture stress condition were promising for yield and yield contributing characters. These genotypes exhibited higher values for LAR, CSI and chlorophyll index than the other genotypes studied, exhibiting their tolerance behavior. Number of flowers, number of pods and yield of these genotypes were higher than the other genotypes examined. Therefore, these genotypes can be used as sources of drought tolerance in further breeding programme for evolving the drought tolerant genotypes in pigeonpea.