ABSTRACT
Pigeonpea expanses are predominant in the plains of Peninsular India, parts of East Africa and Caribbean islands. Pigeonpea is the most important legume species consumed by Southern Indian populace since prehistoric times. Pigeonpea was domesticated in the Western and Eastern Ghats of Southern India. Fuller and Harvey [1] suggest that center of origin for pigeonpea (red gram) is in the region encompassing Northern Andhra Pradesh, parts of Chhattisgarh and fringes of Eastern Ghats in South India. Cajanus cajanifolia is the progenitor of cultivated species C. cajan [2] (Table 1). Neolithic settlements (3rd and 2nd millennium B.C.) at Sanganakallu, Hullur and Western Ananthapur district contained specimens of Cajanus species [3]. Over 17 species of Cajanus are traceable in South India. The wild species of Cajanus are mostly confined to Western and Eastern Ghats of Southern India and hilly zones of Sri Lanka. Cajanus seeds and plant material belonging to late Neolithic and early Chalcolithic age (1300-1400 B.C.) have also been reported from Gopalpur in Coastal Orissa. Cajanus species moved north into Gangetic Plains through human migration. This is an example of counter current of crop diffusion from South India to Indo-Gangetic Plains [3]. Human migration, preferences and nutritional qualities of grains must have induced the expansion of pigeonpea agroecosystem into Kenya and other east African countries, as well as to Caribbean Islands.
