AgroForestryTree Database
Cajanus cajan
 Species identityEcology and distributionPropagation and managementFunctional usesPests and diseasesAdditional InfoBibliographyImages |
Species identity
TaxonomySynonym(s)
Common names
(Amharic) : yergib ater, yewof ater
(Burmese) : pay-in-chong, pe-sinngon
(English) : angolan pea, Congo pea, no-eye pea, pigeon pea, red gram, yellow dhal
(Filipino) : kadios, kardis, kidis, tabios
(French) : ambrévade, pois cajon, pois d’Angole, pois pigeon
(German) : anglische erbse
(Hindi) : arhar, dhal, shu-tou, tur, tuver
(Indonesian) : arthar
(Khmer) : sândaèk dai, sândaèk klöng, sândaèk kroëb sâ
(Lao (Sino-Tibetan)) : thwàx h’ê
(Luganda) : mpinnamiti
(Malay) : kacang Bali, kacang gude, kacang hiris
(Mandarin) : ki-mame
(Portuguese) : feijão boere
(Sanskrit) : adhaki, tuvari, tuvarika
(Spanish) : gandul, gandures, guisante de paloma
(Swahili) : mbaazi
(Tamil) : thovaray
(Thai) : ma hae, thua maetaai, thua rae, togare
Botanic description
Cajanus cajan is a glandular-pubescent, short-lived perennial (1-5 years) shrub, usually grown as an annual, 0.5-4 m high, with thin roots up to 2 m deep; stems up to 15 cm in diameter; branches many, slender. Leaf rachis 1-2 cm long; petiole half as long or less; stipules acuminate, 2.5-5 mm long, persistent; leaflets lanceolate or narrowly elliptic, puberulent above and underside, the largest to 7.5-8 x 2.8-3.5 cm, acute apically, bases similar, venation strongly reticulate, prominent underneath. Inflorescence axillary from a single peduncle, terminating at the insertion of 1-2 pedicels or continuing for 1-3 additional nodes, rarely branching, usually slightly shorter than the leaves, mostly with 2-6 flowers; bracts about 5 mm long; flowers about 2 cm long; pedicels to about 9 mm long; calyx tube 3-5 mm long, glandular and pubescent, the upper lobe bifid, the lower lobe longest, about 4 mm long; vexillary petal basally inflexed biauriculate, mostly with reddish striate, bicallose in the target area, glabrous, about 14 mm long, with a claw about 4 mm long. Fruit a pod, linear-oblong, apex obtuse or acute, compressed, bivalved, depressed between the seeds, about 4 cm long, 1 cm wide, 3-4 mm thick; upper suture swollen, the lower indistinct; beak downcurved; seeds 1-5, compressed, about 6 x 4 x 1.5 mm, of various colours; the hilum linear-oblong to somewhat elliptic, about 3 mm long.
Ecology and distribution
History of cultivationC. cajan originated in India and spread to Southeast Asia in the early centuries of our era. The species was known in ancient Egypt at least 4000 years ago, reached the rest of Africa 2000 BC or earlier, and found its way to the Americas with the conquests and slave trade, probably through both the Atlantic and the Pacific. It is now grown all over the tropics but especially in the Indian subcontinent and East Africa.
Natural Habitat
As the species is not found truly in the wild, its natural habitat conditions are uncertain. It prefers grassy habitats in tropical, cold-free zones with optimum 600-1000 mm annual rainfall. However, it grows in humid areas with 2500 mm annual rainfall and in semi-arid areas with only 400 mm of rain annually.
Geographic distribution
Native : India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan
Exotic : Afghanistan, Angola, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Ghana, Grenada, Japan, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nepal, New Zealand, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, United States of America, Zambia, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe
Biophysical limitsAltitude: 0-2000 m, Mean annual temperature: 18-38 deg. C, Mean annual rainfall: 400-2500 mm Soil type: C. cajan is grown in a wide range of soils with varying physical and chemical characteristics. The major soils are alluvials, Vertisols and Alfisols, which range in pH from 5 to 7 or more. It is sensitive to salinity and has not been produced on saline soils. It is also susceptible to waterlogging.
Reproductive Biology
The bisexual flower may remain open for about 6 hours, pollen having been shed the previous day. The flowers of C. cajan are cleistogamous, a condition favouring self-pollination. But bees visit the flowers and there is about 20% cross-pollination. The factors affecting the extent of cross-pollination are the flowering habit of the cultivar and the types and numbers of insect pollinators. Only heavy insects can trip the flowers by depressing the keel petal and releasing the staminal column. Large wild bees can do this, including Chalicodoma, Megachile and Xylocopa.
Propagation and management
Propagation methodsThe pods are picked when the seed has reached physiological maturity and is just beginning to lose its bright green colour. C. cajan is best established by direct seeding in a well-prepared field. No pregermination treatment of seeds is needed. Seedlings have hypogeal germination. Emergence is complete 2-3 weeks after sowing. Stem cuttings rarely succeed.Tree Management
For hedgerow intercropping, the hedges should be cut at height of 0.5-1 m when the grain crop is fully mature. The hedges can be cut 2-3 times a year in areas where the dry season lasts 4-6 months. At pod maturity, branches of C. cajan are cut at about 0.5 m. Higher levels of pruning can result in higher and unacceptable levels of plant mortality. As a field crop, C. cajan may be typified as rather undeveloped; the tall genotypes particularly are cumbersome in cultivation. Weeds must be controlled to alleviate slow initial growth. Wind may bend the plants, but staking is not practised. In intensive cropping of short-duration cultivars, irrigation may be required. C. cajan’s response to fertilizers is rarely economic; a phosphate dressing is generally recommended at 20-100 kg/ha.
Germplasm Management
Seed storage behaviour is orthodox with no problems for long-term storage under preferred conditions. There are 5000-14 000 seeds/kg.
Functional uses
ProductsFood: The seeds of C. cajan can be used as a vegetable. Very young pods are harvested before the seeds are distinct and are cooked in curries or used to make relishes. The dry seeds have several products such as tempe (a traditional Indonesian food prepared by fermenting with a Rhizopus mould then soaked, dehulled and cooked legume seeds), and ketchup (pigeonpea sauce, a replacement for soy sauce in Indonesia that is made by fermenting C. cajan with Apergillus oryzae). C. cajan flour (mixed with wheat to improve the protein level of baked products) and clear noodles of a quality higher than that of mung bean are made from dehulled seed. Fresh seeds contain vitamins, especially provitamin A and vitamin B complex. Per a 100 g edible portion, dry seeds contain 7-10.3 g water, 14-30 g protein, 1-9 g fat, 36-65.8 g carbohydrates, 5-9.4 g fibre and 3.8 g ash. The energy content averages 1450 kJ/100 g. Fodder: C. cajan fodder alone may be a bit low in energy. The leaves can provide a good substitute for alfalfa in animal feed formulations, particularly in areas not suitable for alfalfa. The pods are used as cattle feed but are limited by their low protein and high fibre content. They have therefore been used as a roughage source for cattle. C. cajan grain has been successfully used for poultry feed. In Hawaii, a mixture of equal quantities of cracked pigeonpea and cracked maize has been proved the best poultry ration. Apiculture: Honeybees collect nectar from the plant, which is an important honey source. The honey has a distinctive greenish hue in the comb. Fuel: C. cajan sticks are an important household fuel in many areas. The heat value is about 1/2 that of the same weight of coal, and it has several advantages over traditional trees, such as its rapid growth potential, possibility of producing other crops on the same land, and production of a seed crop. Farmers sow it instead of grain because of its wood. Its productivity levels more than make up for the comparatively poor fuel characteristics. Fibre: On an experimental basis, C. cajan has been found to produce a pulp for paper similar to that of hardwoods, and the pulp might be suitable for making good-quality writing and printing paper. The branches and stems can be used for making baskets. Timber: The wood is used in light construction such as in roofing, wattling on carts, tubular wickerwork lining for wells and baskets. Medicine: It has many traditional uses as medicine. In Java, for example, the young leaves are applied to sores, herpes and itches. Other products: C. cajan serves as a host for silkworm (in Madagascar) or the lac insect (in northern Bengal and Thailand).Services
Erosion control: Extensively covering the ground with C. cajan prevents soil erosion by wind and water. Shade or shelter: C. cajan is useful as a tall hedge on dry soil and on the bunds of paddy fields. It is often grown as a shade crop, cover crop or windbreak. Nitrogen fixing: Using the nitrogen-balance method, it has been proved in northern India that long-duration C. cajan can fix up to 200 kg N/ha over a 40-week period. Soil improver: The root system is reported to break plough pans, thus improving soil structure, encouraging infiltration, minimizing sedimentation and smothering weeds. Leaf fall at maturity adds to the organic matter in the soil and provides additional nitrogen. It seems to have special mechanisms to extract phosphorus from black Vertisol soils. Boundary or barrier or support: In Southeast Asia, C. cajan is grown as a support for vanilla. Intercropping: Due to its hardiness, ability to grow on residual soil moisture, and slow early growth, C. cajan is an ideal, non-competitive crop to plant with cereals. In traditional cropping systems, it is mixed with cereals, oil seeds, short-season pulses or cotton, with the cereal as the main crop and C. cajan as the bonus crop. In Kenya, it is an important food legume, cultivated commercially for dry seed and as a green vegetable. In Zambia, smallholder farmers generally grow it in their backyards and around the fields of annual crops. In Uganda, it is combined with millet in a cropping system.
Pests and diseasesBecause of its long flowering period, damage by pests such as agromyza fruitflies and heliothis borers may be compensated for by renewed flushes. Chemical control is cumbersome and expensive in the tree’s tall, indeterminate forms. C. cajan has more than 100 pathogens. They include fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes (cyst nematode, reniform nematode, root-knot nematode) and mycoplasm-like organisms. A disease of economic importance is fusarium wilt (Fusarium udum), which is found in Bangladesh, Ghana, Grenada, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Nepal and Tanzania. Control measures include cultural practices like rotation with tobacco over several years and breeding for resistance. Sterility mosaic is the most important disease of C. cajan in India and Nepal. Others include phytophthora blight and cercospora leafspot.
Bibliography
Anon. 1986. The useful plants of India. Publications & Information Directorate, CSIR, New Delhi, India.Bein E. 1996. Useful trees and shrubs in Eritrea. Regional Soil Conservation Unit (RSCU), Nairobi, Kenya.
Bekele-Tesemma A, Birnie A, Tengnas B. 1993. Useful trees and shrubs for Ethiopia. Regional Soil Conservation Unit (RSCU), Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA).
Cobley L.S & Steele W.M. 1976. An Introduction to the Botany of Tropical Crops. Longman Group Limited.
Dassanayake MD, Fosberg FR. 1983. Flora of Ceylon. Vol. 10. Amerind Publishing Co. New Delhi.
Hong TD, Linington S, Ellis RH. 1996. Seed storage behaviour: a compendium. Handbooks for Genebanks: No. 4. IPGRI.
ICRAF. 1992. A selection of useful trees and shrubs for Kenya: Notes on their identification, propagation and management for use by farming and pastoral communities. ICRAF.
Katende AB et al. 1995. Useful trees and shrubs for Uganda. Identification, Propagation and Management for Agricultural and Pastoral Communities. Regional Soil Conservation Unit (RSCU), Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA).
Little EL. 1983. Common fuelwood crops. Communi-Tech Association, Morgantown, West Virginia.
Mbuya LP et al. 1994. Useful trees and shrubs for Tanzania: Identification, Propagation and Management for Agricultural and Pastoral Communities. Regional Soil Conservation Unit (RSCU), Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA).
Nene YL et. al. 1990. The pigeon pea. CABI and ICRISAT. University Press, Cambridge.
Nicholson B.E, Harrison S.G, Masefield G.B & Wallis M. 1969. The Oxford Book of Food Plants. Oxford University Press.
Perry LM. 1980. Medicinal plants of East and South East Asia : attributed properties and uses. MIT Press. South East Asia.
van der Maesen, Somaatmadja S. 1989. Plant Resources of south-east Asia. No. 1: Pulses. Pudoc Scientific Publishers, Wageningen.
Vandenbeldt RJ. 1988. Cajanus cajan: it’s more than just a pulse crop. NFT Highlights. Waimanalo, USA.
Williams R.O & OBE. 1949. The useful and ornamental plants in Zanzibar and Pemba. Zanzibar Protectorate.