 maize and pigeon pea. If you learn how to grow pigeon pea with maize you can target weed infestations and produce more food for less money. To get started, select the best pigeon pea variety and create a crop calendar for next season with extension officers in the area. Buy certified seeds recommended by the agribusiness hubs. The right varieties match local climate are resistant to major pests and diseases and match culinary preferences profitability and other valuable uses. Early planting of pigeon pea is essential for the varieties promoted by the agribusiness hub. You can plant pigeon pea on the same day as maize across all agroecological regions. An achievable yield for pigeon pea is 500 to 750 kilograms per hectare with maximum achievable yield of 1000 kilograms per hectare. Based on your farm field extension officers can recommend the most suitable mechanization systems for you. You can plant pigeon pea in alleys three meters apart with other crops such as maize and ground nut in between. For pigeon pea follow this spacing guide. For maize if you are using a jab planter keep 45 centimeters between planting stations intrarow spacing and 75 centimeters between rows intrarow spacing. Use two seeds per station plant five centimeters deep. If you are using an ox with a ripper two-wheel tractor or four-wheel tractor use 22.5 centimeters between maize plants in a row intrarow spacing and 75 centimeters between rows intrarow spacing. Plant five centimeters deep identify market opportunities and rotate maize with grain legumes every year. When planting maize make sure you use one bottle top 2.25 grams decompound fertilizer per plant equivalent to 50 kilograms decompound basil fertilizer per hectare. If manure compost is available use between four and 10 tons per hectare with decompound to avoid weed and germination problems use well rotted manure. For best results manure and or fertilizer should be applied in the planting furrow or near the planting station. Two weeks after planting check the field. Does it have weeds? No your close crop spacing and cover crops are helping you save money and time on weed control. Yes lightly scratch the surface with a hand hoe hand weeder or use a cultivator drawn by draft animals two-wheel tractor or four-wheel tractor. Since you are mixing maize and legumes in the same field the use of herbicides is restricted to pre-emergent non-residual herbicides only more information is available at the hub. On loamy or clay soil four weeks after planting apply 2.25 grams a level bottle top of urea per maize plant equivalent to 50 kilograms per hectare 10 centimeters away from the plant and cover it with some soil this is less fertilizer than if you were just planting maize. On light sandy soils apply around one gram half a bottle top of fertilizer in two applications at four weeks and that's seven weeks pigeon pea has two major pests one the cmr flower beetle eats flowers so no fruit two cotton bowlworm eats young seed in the pod to control the cmr flower beetle option one wear gloves and hand pick them three to four times during the season option two spray rotinone on flowers you can prepare rotinone by soaking one kilogram of fresh tephrosia leaves in 20 liters of warm water overnight strain and spray in the afternoon option three ask your extension officer on weather and how to apply chemicals to control the cotton bowlworm option one use resistant pigeon pea varieties such as mutawajuni option two use biological sprays such as basilis thuringiensis and spray three to four times when plants have fruit pods this product is sold under various names in zambia option three consult with your extension officer for chemical control options when spraying insecticides or herbicides full protective clothing storage disposal of empty containers and other safety guidelines should be followed pigeon pea matures after maize and annual legumes like soya bean and ground nut harvest pigeon pea when the majority of the pods on the plant are mature to determine when your harvest is ready shake the plants harvest can then be carried out in various ways the first method is cutting stems the fastest way to harvest pigeon pea cut stems at around one meter above the soil level and dry them you can do this by hand or hire service harvesters from the hub after two weeks hit the stems against the ground to thresh the grains another method is stripping this is recommended in varieties like mutawajuni that can be harvested twice during the dry season careful stripping of pods should be done to allow flowers and further pods to form this is limited to areas with no livestock during dry season as they will not eat the plants and pods pigeon pea are rich in protein can be eaten used as dry season livestock fodder and help improve the soil since pigeon pea has deep roots and can survive the long dry season this produces green manure early farmers can use pigeon pea leaves as green manure for maize and reduce synthetic fertilizer while sustaining yields green pigeon pea leaves can be cut into 30 centimeter pieces and laid on the area where maize will be grown you can leave pigeon pea in the field for two to four weeks after the rain has started this helps produce as much green manure as possible before being cut improving maize growth and soil fertility maize should be planted where the legume was in the previous season in order to benefit from any nitrogen left in the soil pigeon pea can be either kept alive for the second season or planted again every year farmers should wait seven to ten days after planting maize before cutting and applying green manure to the maize growing area find out more about FAO's approach to climate smart crop production