Articles
Zombi pea: a neglected but potential climate resilient crop
Article number
1427_2
Pages
11 – 16
Language
English
Abstract
Zombi pea (Vigna vexillata), an underexploited tuberous legume with edible tubers and pods, has the potential of sustainable food production.
Being a legume vegetable with the ability of biological nitrogen fixation, natural reservoir of genes for biotic and abiotic stresses, it is an important future element in organic agriculture system for enhancing food and nutritional security.
It also plays a crucial role as green manure crop, enhancing soil productivity and restoration of soil fertility.
Compared to conventional tuber foods like cassava and sweet potatoes, it has a higher protein level.
The zombi pea is one of the domesticated Vigna species that has received the least attention in in the Indian subcontinent.
In this regard, during the 2021-2022 crop season, an experiment was carried out at the research farm of the Central Tuber Crop Research Institute, Regional Centre, Bhubaneshwar.
The experiment was laid out in the randomized block design with eight treatments (consisting of four levels of spacings combined with and without deblossoming) and three replications.
The findings showed that the highest plant height, fresh weight of the leaf and stem, number of tubers per plant, weight of the tubers, length, girth, and yield of tubers per plant were all achieved with the widest spacing.
The significantly highest green pod yield and tuber yield (150.85 q ha-1) were recorded at the closest spacing.
Deblossoming conditions encouraged more vegetative growth with the highest tuber yield per hectare (120 q ha-1). The crop phenotype expressed fully in the wider spacing, while maximum total yield was experienced with narrow plant spacing.
Retaining the flowers resulted in a significant pod yield, but removing the flowers increased the tuber yield.
Understanding the potential of zombi pea for food and nutritional security in the face of climate change is made possible by the current work.
Being a legume vegetable with the ability of biological nitrogen fixation, natural reservoir of genes for biotic and abiotic stresses, it is an important future element in organic agriculture system for enhancing food and nutritional security.
It also plays a crucial role as green manure crop, enhancing soil productivity and restoration of soil fertility.
Compared to conventional tuber foods like cassava and sweet potatoes, it has a higher protein level.
The zombi pea is one of the domesticated Vigna species that has received the least attention in in the Indian subcontinent.
In this regard, during the 2021-2022 crop season, an experiment was carried out at the research farm of the Central Tuber Crop Research Institute, Regional Centre, Bhubaneshwar.
The experiment was laid out in the randomized block design with eight treatments (consisting of four levels of spacings combined with and without deblossoming) and three replications.
The findings showed that the highest plant height, fresh weight of the leaf and stem, number of tubers per plant, weight of the tubers, length, girth, and yield of tubers per plant were all achieved with the widest spacing.
The significantly highest green pod yield and tuber yield (150.85 q ha-1) were recorded at the closest spacing.
Deblossoming conditions encouraged more vegetative growth with the highest tuber yield per hectare (120 q ha-1). The crop phenotype expressed fully in the wider spacing, while maximum total yield was experienced with narrow plant spacing.
Retaining the flowers resulted in a significant pod yield, but removing the flowers increased the tuber yield.
Understanding the potential of zombi pea for food and nutritional security in the face of climate change is made possible by the current work.
Publication
Authors
S. Priyadarsini, A. Nandi, S. Singh, M. Nedunchezhiyan, P. Choudhari, A. Pattnaik
Keywords
deblossoming, food security, phenotypic traits, phenology, soil fertility, yield traits, zombi pea
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