What is pigeon pea?

Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millspaugh) is an important grain legume crop grown in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Though pigeonpea has a narrow genetic base, vast genetic resources are available for its genetic improvement. Evaluation of small subsets, such as core (10% of the whole collection) and mini-core collections (about 1% of the entire collection), has resulted in the identification of promising diverse sources for agronomic and nutrition-related traits as well as resistance/tolerance to important biotic/abiotic stresses for use in pigeonpea improvement programmes.