ICRISAT IPM project 10: Building on strengths towards sustainable management of sterility mosaic disease for enhanced pigeonpea production in the Indian Subcontinent

Duration: 1 year (2005 – 2006)

Purpose: To enhance pigeonpea productivity by mitigating losses due to sterility mosaic disease (SMD) for enhanced food security and improved livelihoods of poor farmers living in marginal farming systems.

Background/description: Pigeonpea is cultivated on 5.25 m ha globally, with nearly 90% being grown in the Indian subcontinent. Pigeonpea seed is the source of dietary protein for an estimated 1.1 billion people. The crop is also used as fodder, enhances soil fertility, and plays an important role in food security, and balanced diet. Sterility mosaic disease caused by pigeonpea sterility mosaic virus (PPSMV), transmitted by the mite, Aceria cajani, is a major constraint on pigeonpea production. SMD aborts flower production and renders the plants sterile. This disease is responsible for annual grain loss valued over US$ 300 million in the Indian subcontinent. Several isolates of PPSMV occur in the Indian subcontinent. Resistance to highly virulent isolates is scarce in the pigeonpea germplasm. This project seeks to characterize various PPSMV isolates, develop diagnostic tools and identify durable disease resistance sources. Promising disease resistant varieties suitable for diverse agro-eco regions will be disseminated for on-farm cultivation. Training courses for NARS and farmers will be conducted for capacity building in integrated SMD management, and seed production.

Agro-ecosystem and location(s): Semi-arid tropics of Indian subcontinent.

Expected outputs: a) Sources of SMD resistance in accessions of cultivated and wild pigeonpea germplasm, b) Selection and dissemination of high-yielding pigeonpea cultivars with broad-based resistance to SMD, c) Dissemination of new SMD resistance screening tools to NARS and NGOs to enhance the efficacy of pigeonpea breeding/improvement programs; d) Information on biochemical characteristics of PPSMV isolates and development of diagnostic tools; and f) Establishing village-level seed production systems and integrated disease management.

Potential impact and beneficiaries: The primary beneficiaries are small-scale farmers in rain-fed agriculture, who will benefit from mitigation of losses due to SMD by cultivating disease-resistant varieties. Training courses to NARS and farmers will increase the technical capacity in virus detection, selection of resistant varieties, and seed production within farming communities. Pigeonpea cultivars with valuable traits and durable resistance to biotic stresses would encourage widespread adoption of this crop, benefiting marginal farmers and the environment.

Partners: a) International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, India (ICRISAT) ; b) University of Agriculture Sciences (UAS), Bangalore, India; c) Agriculture Research Station (ARS), Gulbarga, India ; d) Centre for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA), Hyderabad, India ; d) Research Environment Extension Education Development Society (REEDS), Hyderabad, India.

Development investor(s): The Crop Protection Programme of Department for International Development, United Kingdom.

ICRISAT contact person(s)/principal investigator(s): P. Lava Kumar p.lavakumar@cgiar.org, and F. Waliyar f.waliyar@cgiar.org; website http://www.icrisat.org