In Haiti, we have a problem with the pigeon pea dieing. It is across multiple farmer fields with varying soil types. We have tried leaving giving the field a 2 year break from pigeon pea, but that didn’t help.
Any ideas? Anybody else seeing this?
Fusarium wilt, a fungal disease, is a big problem with pigeon pea. Likely what you’re experiencing. ICRISAT has identified and released a good number of fusarium-resistant varieties in eastern and southern Africa. I don’t know if they’re available in Haiti or through the ECHO seedbank.
Bon kouraj!
Neil
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Thank you Neil! Do you know of any documents explaining the disease and management practices to mitigate it, that we could translate into Haitian Creole?
-Mike
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Michael,
For some reason, most of the simple how-to information is pushing seed treatment, which works, but isn’t very practical for rural Haiti. Some promote cow urine as a seed treatment, which I’m afraid is a naive misrepresentation of the potential of biological fungicides (aka B.S.). The best management approach by far is to use resistant varieties which are widely available in Africa, and which you should be able to access through ICRISAT. ECHO may also have some seed. Wherever you get it, you should ask for several varieties since there is a wide range of maturities and consumer characteristics which vary from variety to variety. It may take several seasons of trials to figure out which one fits the Haitian context the best.
Here’s a thorough treatment of the subject: https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/10.1079/cabicompendium.24714
Neil
Thank you!
-Mike
To follow up on Neil’s comment, you can find ICRISAT’s list of Fusarium-resistant pigeon pea accessions here. Unfortunately ECHO’s seedbank does not currently carry any of these accessions. After skimming several research articles, it seems that long-duration varieties tend to carry more resistance than short-duration, but acquiring a proven resistant variety and implementing cultural practices (remove infected plants, crop rotation etc.) will probably be your most effective options. Hopefully we can add some resistant varieties to our catalog in the future.
Emma
The East Africa Impact Center should be able to get you quite a few since they’ve been registered in Tanzania.
Thanks Neil. ICRISAT is working on shipping me some.
I’d be curious to hear any follow up on this issue. Have you trialed the resistant varieties? There’s a seed source in the US that claims to have “fusarium wilt resistant” varieties sourced from India, but I have asked if they could share the variety name and source and haven’t heard back: Pigeon Peas, Pigeon Pea Seeds. Reimer Seeds
It would be worth trying these.
I’ve also read a bit about producing pure pigeon pea seed and it requires some foresight b/c it does cross pollinate readily. You need a pretty large exclusion zone (500m or more depending on seed class).
Where are you located in Haiti and do you know how widespread this issue is?
Thanks! -Jamie
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