Screening and Production of Four Varieties of Pigeon Pea [Cajanus cajan (L.)] in the Komadougou Basin, Diffa, Niger

The Diffa region is an area of livestock farming par excellence. Unfortunately, it is confronted by a chronic fodder deficit in recent decades. It is important to find the mechanism to mitigate the consequences of this fodder deficit. It is in this framework that it was useful to conduct a study on the fodder cultivation of a legume. The objective of this study is to assess the production parameters of four varieties of Cajanus cajan in order to identify the most efficient. The four varieties used in the experiment are the white (Va1), dark red (Va2), light red (Va3) and cream (Va4) varieties. To do this, the Latin square experimental design was put in place, with four blocks and 16 elementary plots. Data were collected on 5 plants in each of the plots. The data analysis revealed the rate of germination was 95%, 96%, 98% and 100% for varieties Va3, Va1, Va2 and Va4, respectively. The flowering stage was 92.60±5.83, 91.90±3.29, 90.50±6.22 and 90.50±3.59 Days After Sowing (DAS) respectively for Va4, Va1, Va2 and Va3. As for the maturity stage, it was 123.90±12.35, 125.23±8.96, 126.94±0.47 and 128.53±0.47 DAS respectively for Va1, Va2, Va3 and Va4. The number of pods was 188.75±69.16, 146.30±130.02, 111.15±58.73 and 102.95±55.91 respectively for Va4, Va1, Va3 and Va2. As for the lengths of the pods, they were 46.65±2.82, 44.40±2.96, 43.11±3.59 and 38.91±2.80 respectively for Va1, Va4, Va3 and Va2. The dry matter productivities were 4519.30±2227.02, 4011.49±2479.09, 3687.80±2100.81 and 3348.47±1618.93 kg of dry matter per hectare (kg.DM.ha-1) respectively for Va4, Va2, Va1 and Va3. The Va4 variety had the best performance in green phytomass production, dry phytomass. It had the largest number of pods, which were relatively long.