Cajanus cajan

Description of Plant:

Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp. (Family-Fabaceae) known as “Pigeon pea” in English and “Arhar” or “Tuver” in
Sanskrit, Bengali or Hindi, “Tuur” in Marathi, is an erect, woody, annual or short-lived perennial shrub or
small tree primarily grown as a grain crop for seed for human consumption with over 4 million hectares
cultivated worldwide, owing to its nutritional value with 19-22% protein . Native to the tropical
deciduous forests of Asia and Africa, ~90% of its cultivation is from India. The foliage are cut and fed to
livestock, grown as hedgerow for windbreaks and as ground or shade cover for plantation. Good nitrogen
fixation makes it a useful green manure. Growing to 4 m tall, it has strong, woody, freely branching
stems; root system deep and extensive, to about 2 m, with a taproot. Leaves alternate, pinnately
trifoliolate, stipulate; stipels small, subulate; leaflets lanceolate to elliptic, entire, acute apically and
basally, penninerved, resinous on lower surface and pubescent, to 15 cm long and 6 cm wide.
Inflorescence found in terminal or axillary racemes in the upper branches of the bush. Flowers multi-
colored with yellow predominant, red, purple, orange occurring in streaks or fully cover the dorsal side
of the flag. Pods are compressed, 2-9 seeded, not shattering in the field. Seeds lenticular to ovoid, to 8
mm in diameter, about 10 seeds per gram, separated from each other in the pod by slight depressions.