Climate change is reshaping agriculture across the globe, hitting hardest in semi-arid and drought-prone regions where farming already exists on a razor’s edge. Among the most vulnerable are vital food crops like pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan), a legume that’s more than just food. It’s a nutritional staple, a soil enhancer thanks to its nitrogen-fixing abilities, and a financial backbone for millions of smallholder farmers, especially in India. The challenge? Rising temperatures that threaten crop viability during critical growth stages. Solving this isn’t just about boosting yields—it’s about securing livelihoods and food supplies where climate stress is relentless and unforgiving.
The recent development of ICPV 25444 by scientists at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Hyderabad marks a groundbreaking advance. This pigeonpea variety is engineered to survive and thrive under extreme heat, displayed by its ability to tolerate temperatures up to 45°C during flowering—the phase most susceptible to heat damage. Achieving this resilience alongside insensitivity to photoperiod and temperature fluctuations is a technical marvel, accelerated through the innovative use of speed breeding protocols. This cutting-edge approach drastically shortens breeding cycles, allowing multiple generations per year under controlled environments, fast-tracking the release of improved varieties to farmers facing escalating climate risks.
ICRISAT’s ICPV 25444 matures in an impressively short 125 days, far quicker than traditional counterparts, enabling the crop to dodge the worst of the heat and increasingly unpredictable monsoon patterns. Field trials have validated its performance across varied Indian agro-ecological zones, particularly in Telangana, Karnataka, and Odisha, regions already grappling with heat waves that sap crop yields. Doubling yields from the current national average of approximately 1.1 to 1.2 tons per hectare to nearly 2 tons is nothing short of transformative, promising financial relief for farmers who deal daily with climatic uncertainties. Farmers’ positive reception of this cultivar in hot zones signals its potential as a tool for climate adaptation that’s not just theoretical but scalable and practical.
The innovation extends beyond heat tolerance. ICPV 25444’s insensitivity to daylength (photoperiod) means farmers gain flexibility in planting schedules, expanding pigeonpea cultivation to more diverse agro-ecological zones and cropping systems. This adaptability enables pigeonpea to fit seamlessly into crop rotations and intercropping patterns, particularly with cereals, bolstering soil health and reducing pest pressures through diversification. The alignment of an earlier maturity period with fluctuating monsoons also opens the door to double cropping or better land use efficiency in semi-arid landscapes. These traits collectively reduce vulnerability to climate shocks while promoting sustainable farming practices, crucial for resource-poor farmers who can’t afford failed harvests.
ICRISAT’s development work sits within a broader commitment to supporting dryland farming communities across Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. For over fifty years, the institute has focused on critical, yet often neglected, crops like pigeonpea, groundnut, pearl millet, sorghum, and finger millet. The newly released ICPV 25444 builds on earlier successes in disease resistance and yield improvement, representing a leap that simultaneously tackles yield gaps and rising heat stress. This progress is vital as India, the world’s top pigeonpea producer, faces impending shortages and import needs estimated at around 1.2 million tons by early 2024 despite its leading role—a paradox driven by shrinking cultivation areas and climate pressure.
Importantly, the open-access nature of ICRISAT’s speed breeding protocol democratizes the technology, allowing breeding programs worldwide to adopt and tailor the method for local pigeonpea populations. This collaboration can accelerate the breeding pipeline globally and extend the benefits of heat-resilient varieties beyond India to other heat-affected pulse-growing regions in Africa and Asia. Given pigeonpea’s role in improving soil fertility, reducing dependence on synthetic fertilizers, and bolstering nutritional security with protein-rich harvests, widespread adoption of ICPV 25444 stands to have ecological as well as economic impacts.
Looking forward, the success of ICPV 25444 exemplifies how integrating modern breeding technologies with real-world agricultural challenges can yield climate-smart solutions. With forecasts warning of intensifying heat waves and unpredictable precipitation patterns, resilient crop varieties become frontline defenses for food systems worldwide. ICPV 25444 is a promising trailblazer in this domain, potentially shaping breeding efforts for other pulses and dryland staples through speed breeding advancements.
As this heat-tolerant pigeonpea is scaled up through national programs like India’s National Food Security Mission and disseminated across vulnerable landscapes, it symbolizes a significant stride toward sustainable, resilient farming in the face of climate upheaval. This variety not only enhances productivity but also insulates millions of farmers against environmental stressors, contributing to a more secure and sustainable food future in semi-arid tropics and beyond.
发表回复