Pigeon pea

Pigeon Pea

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Pigeon pea

The pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan, syn. Cajanus indicus) is a perennial member of the family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
Fabaceae

Fabaceae

Fabaceae or Leguminosae is a large and economically important family of flowering plants, which is commonly known as the legume family, pea family, bean family or pulse family....
. Other common names are arhar (Hindi

Hindi

Standard Hindi, also known as High Hindi, Nagari Hindi or Literary Hindi is a Standard language register of Hindi. It is one of the 22 official languages of India, and is used, along with English language, for administration of the central government....
/Bangla:????), Rohor (Assamese

Assamese language

Assamese is the easternmost Indo-Aryan language that is spoken mainly in the States and territories of India of Assam in North-East India. It is also the official language of Assam....
), red gram, toovar/toor (Gujarati

Gujarati language

Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan languages, and part of the greater Indo-European languages language family. It is native to the Indian state of Gujarat, and is its chief language, as well as of the adjacent union territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli....
/Marathi/Punjabi

Punjabi language

'Punjabi' , , is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region and their diasporas. Speakers include adherents of the religions of Islam, Sikhism and Hinduism....
), tuvaram paruppu (Tamil

Tamil language

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has Official language in India, Sri Lanka and Singapore....
: ?????????????),toovara paruppu (Malayalam :"???? ???????" ),togari (Kannada), Kandi (Telugu

Telugu language

Telugu or Telegu is one of the four classical languages of India. It is a South-Central Dravidian languages mostly spoken in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, where it is the official language....
), gandul, guandul, guandu, Congo pea, Gungo pea, Gunga pea, and no-eye pea.

The cultivation of the pigeon pea goes back at least 3000 years.

Nutrition Facts

????? Nutrition Facts
Calories in ?????
Carbs in ?????
Fat in ?????

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Encyclopedia

The pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan, syn. Cajanus indicus) is a perennial member of the family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
Fabaceae

Fabaceae

Hindi

Assamese language

Gujarati language

Punjabi language

Tamil language

Telugu language

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
, from where it travelled to East Africa

East Africa

East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN subregion, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
and by means of the slave trade to the American continent. Today pigeon peas are widely cultivated in all tropical and semi-tropical regions of both the Old

Old World

The Old World consists of those parts of Earth known to Europeans, Asians, and Africans in the 15th century....
and the New World.

Pigeon pea is an important grain legume

Legume

A legume is a plant in the family Fabaceae , or a fruit of these specific plants. A legume fruit is a Fruit#Simple fruit that develops from a simple carpel and usually Dehiscence on two sides....
crop of rainfed agriculture in the semi-arid tropics. The Indian subcontinent

Indian subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent is a large section of the Asian continent consisting of the land lying substantially on the Indian Plate. The subcontinent includes parts of various countries in South Asia, including those on the continental crust , an Island#Continental islands country on the continental shelf , and an Island#Oceanic islands countr...
, Eastern Africa and Central America

Central America

Central America is a central geography region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmus portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast....
, in that order, are the world's three main pigeon pea producing regions. Pigeon pea is cultivated in more than 25 tropical and sub-tropical countries, either as a sole crop or intermixed with such cereal

Cereal

Cereals, or cereal grains, are mostly Poaceae cultivated for their edible brans or fruit seeds . Cereal grains are grown in greater quantities and provide more energy worldwide than any other type of crop; they are therefore staple foods....
s as sorghum

Sorghum

Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of Poaceae, some of which are raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture....
(Sorchum bicolor), pearl millet

Pearl millet

Pearl millet is the most widely grown type of millet. Grown in Africa and the Indian subcontinent since prehistoric times, it is generally accepted that pearl millet originated in Africa and was subsequently introduced into India....
(Pennisetium glaucum), or maize

Maize

Maize , known as corn in some countries, is a cereal domesticated in Mesoamerica and subsequently spread throughout the American continents....
(Zea mays), or with legumes, e.g. peanut

Peanut

The peanut, or groundnut , is a species in the legume Fabaceae native to South America, Mexico and Central America. It is an annual plant herbaceous plant growing to 30 to 50 cm tall....
(Arachis hypogaea). Being a legume, pigeon pea enriches soil through symbiotic nitrogen fixation

Nitrogen fixation

Nitrogen fixation is the process by which nitrogen is taken from its relatively inert molecular form in the Earth's atmosphere and converted into nitrogen compounds ....
.

Early scientific names

Cytisus cajan (Crawfurd 1852)

Cajanus indicus, Spreng. (Valder 1895)

Uses

Pigeon peas are both a food crop (dried peas, flour, or green vegetable peas) and a forage/cover crop. The dried peas may be sprouted briefly, then cooked, for a flavor different from the green or dried peas. Sprouting also enhances the digestability of dried pigeon peas via the reduction of indigestible sugars that would otherwise remain in the cooked dried peas.

In India

India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
, split pigeon peas (toor dal

Dal

Dal or Pappu is a preparation of pulse s which have been stripped of their outer hulls and split. It also refers to the thick, spicy stew prepared therefrom, a mainstay of Indian cuisine, Cuisine of Pakistan, and Cuisine of Bangladesh cuisine....
) are one of the most popular pulses—along with chickpea

Chickpea

The chickpea is an edible legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. Chickpeas are high in protein and one of the earliest cultivated vegetables....
s (chana), urad

Urad (bean)

Urad, also referred to as urad dal, udad dal, urd bean, urd, urid, black matpe bean, black gram, black lentil , or white lentil , is a bean grown in southern Asia....
and mung

Mung bean

||-||}Mung bean, also known as green bean, mung, moong, mash bean, munggo or monggo, green gram, golden gram, and green soy, is the seed of Vigna radiata which is native to India and Pakistan....
. It is also called 'tuvara parippu' in Kerala

Kerala

Kerala is a Indian Union States and territories of India located in the southwestern part of India. With an Arabian Sea coastline on the west, it is bordered on the north by Karnataka and by Tamil Nadu on the south and east....
. In south India a popular dish sambhar

Sambar (dish)

Sambar or sambhar or Sambaaru , is a dish common in south Indian cuisine and Sri Lankan Tamil cuisines, made of toovar dal .Sambar is a vegetable stew or chowder based on a broth made with tamarind and toovar dal, and is very popular in the cooking of southern regions of India especially in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala an...
is made with this. Dal

Dal

Dal or Pappu is a preparation of pulse s which have been stripped of their outer hulls and split. It also refers to the thick, spicy stew prepared therefrom, a mainstay of Indian cuisine, Cuisine of Pakistan, and Cuisine of Bangladesh cuisine....
is also made with pigeon peas.

Pigeon peas are nutritionally important, as they contain high levels of protein

Protein

Proteins are organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain and joined together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of adjacent amino acid Residue ....
and the important amino acid

Amino acid

In chemistry, an amino acid is a molecule containing both amine and carboxyl functional groups. These molecules are particularly important in biochemistry, where this term refers to alpha-amino acids with the general formula H2NCHRCOOH, where R is an organic substituent....
s methionine

Methionine

Methionine is an a-amino acid with the chemical formula HO2CCHCH2CH2SCH3. This Essential amino acid is classified as nonpolar....
, lysine

Lysine

Lysine is an a-amino acid with the chemical formula HO2CCH4NH2. This amino acid is an essential amino acid, which means that humans cannot synthesize it....
, and tryptophan

Tryptophan

Tryptophan is one of the 20 List of standard amino acids, as well as an essential amino acid in the human diet. It is encoded in the standard genetic code as the codon UGG....
. In combination with cereals, pigeon peas make a well-balanced human food.

In some places, such as the Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are List of divided islands, Saint Martin being the other....
and Hawaii

Hawaii

File:Pahoehoe and Aa flows at Hawaii.jpgThe State of Hawaii is a U.S. state in the United States, located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia....
, pigeon peas are grown for canning. On the Caribbean Island of Puerto Rico, rice and green pigeon peas are together considered the main traditional food, served as a representative Puerto Rican cuisine in many food festivals around the world. For example, it garnered great reviews in The Taste of Chicago 2007, an annual food festival.

The woody stems of pigeon peas are used as firewood, fencing and thatch. In Thailand

Thailand

The Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Laos and Myanmar, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Myanmar....
, pigeon peas are grown as a host for scale insect

Scale insect

The scale insects are small insects of the order Hemiptera, generally classified as the superfamily Coccoidea. There are about 8,000 species of scale insects....
s which produce lac

Lac

Lac is the scarlet resinous secretion of a number of species of insects, namely some of the species of the families Metatachardia, Laccifer, Tachordiella, Austrotacharidia, Afrotachardina, and Tachardina of the superfamily Coccoidea, of which the most commonly cultivated sp...
.

Pigeon peas are in some areas an important crop for green manure

Green manure

In agriculture, a green manure is a type of cover crop grown primarily to add nutrients and organic matter to the soil. Typically, a green manure crop is grown for a specific period, and then plowed under and incorporated into the soil....
. They can after incorporation provide up to 40 kg nitrogen per hectare.

Medicinal Uses

A new usage for treatment of osteonecrosis of the femural head.

Cultivation

In most areas, pigeon peas are grown in association with other row crops such as sorghum

Sorghum

Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of Poaceae, some of which are raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture....
, pearl millet

Pearl millet

Maize

Maize , known as corn in some countries, is a cereal domesticated in Mesoamerica and subsequently spread throughout the American continents....
. Pigeon peas can be of a perennial type, in which the crop can last 3-5 years (although the seed yield drops considerably after the first two years), or an annual type more suitable for grain production.

The crop is cultivated on marginal land by resource-poor farmers, who commonly grow traditional medium and long duration (5-11 months) landrace

Landrace

Landrace refers to domestication animals or plants adapted to the natural and cultural environment in which they live and, in some cases, work....
s. Short duration pigeon peas (3-4 months) suitable for multiple cropping have recently been developed. Traditionally, the use of such input as fertilizers, weeding, irrigation, and pesticides are minimal, so present yield levels are low (average = 700 kg/hac). Greater attention is now being given to managing the crop because it is in high demand at remunerative prices.

Pigeon peas are very drought resistant and can be grown in areas with less than 650 mm annual rainfall.

World production of pigeon peas is estimated at 46,000 km². About 82% of this is grown in India

India