A groundbreaking pigeonpea hybrid developed in India and embraced by farmers there promises to revolutionize pigeonpea production in China

The world’s first commercial hybrid of pigeonpea (called “red gram” in India) is now taking root in China, after winning the hearts of seed producers and farmers in India. The hybrid was developed by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) using cytoplasmic-nuclear male sterility (CMS) technology.

The first pilot program for hybrid seed production is being undertaken by a farmers’ organization in Yuanmou County, in the southwestern province of Yunnan.

Pigeonpea is grown in southern China mainly to conserve soil on 150,000 hectares of sloping land. Hybrids perform better than conventional cultivars by virtue of their fast canopy development, greater biomass production and strong root system. Pigeonpea hybrids are notable not only for their 30-40% yield advantage over pure line cultivars, they also resist major yield-reducing stresses such as drought, soil-borne diseases, water-logging and soil salinity.

According to William Dar, director general of ICRISAT, China’s interest in promoting ICRISAT’s hybrid pigeonpea is an indication of the benefits that the new hybrid has over existing pigeonpea varieties. “I am confident that the revolution we started in India with hybrid pigeonpea will soon spread to different parts of the world,” he said.

The Research Institute of Resource Insects (RIRI) in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, is spearheading the introduction of CMS technology for hybrid pigeonpea development in China jointly with the directorates of forestry and of science and technology, as well as the Yuanmou Pigeonpea Farmers’ Association.

Under the supervision of Li Zhenghong of RIRI, and with technical support from K.B. Saxena, ICRISAT’s principal pigeonpea breeder, Chinese farmers share responsibility for producing seeds of the hybrids ICPH-2671 and ICPH-3381 and their parents. Li is confident that the adoption of hybrids and their mass seed production will help Chinese farmers generate additional income.

Scientists from RIRI and the members of the Yuanmou Pigeonpea Farmers’ Association are organizing a field-based training program on mass hybrid seed production. The Chinese seed producers are also exploring the possibility of exporting hybrid seed to neighboring Myanmar.

The countries other than China where pigeonpea hybrid technology will be introduced shortly are Brazil, Malawi, Myanmar and Tanzania.   

ICRISAT announced the launch of world’s first commercial CMS-based pigeonpea hybrid in July 2008, in collaboration with a private seed company partner, Pravardhan Seeds, which launched ICRISAT’s hybrid ICPH-2671 under the name Pushkal.

Hybrid production requires a female plant in which no viable pollen grains are borne. The expensive and labor-intensive method of producing these male-sterile plants, which do not have functional male sex organs, is to remove the male anthers from the flowers. The simple, more productive way to establish a female line for hybrid seed production is to identify or create a line that is unable to produce viable pollen. This male-sterile line is therefore unable to self-pollinate, and seed formation depends upon pollen from another, male-fertile line. This union produces progeny that perform better than either parent because of heterosis, or hybrid vigor. Through CMS technology, the genes for male sterility are transmitted through the cytoplasm, or cell fluid, such that the entire progeny lacks functional anthers. 

In India, ICRISAT developed the CMS-based hybrid technology for pigeonpea in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). It has worked over the past 2 years with private companies to develop seeds for the market.

For further information, contact Dr K.B. Saxena at k.saxena@cgiar.org.