Key Plant and Grain Characteristics and Their Importance in Breeding and Adaptation of Pigeonpea Cultivars

Complexity of yield formation is well understood by all, and there is no specific formula for breeding high-yielding cultivars. Breeders, however for a long time, have relied on selecting various individual traits, which, they thought, will contribute to yield formation directly or indirectly, and in these ways, successes have been achieved in almost all the crops. In pigeonpea, the most important individual plant traits, known to be linked to seed yield are number of pods, primary and secondary branches, and pod-bearing bunches. All these traits are quantitative in nature and have low heritability. In this paper, an attempt has been made to identify various qualitative and quantitative traits related to seed yield, quality, and those preferred for marketing and milling. A brief description about their inheritance and association with yield has also been provided to help breeders in decision-making.