World’s First Heat-resilient Pigeon Pea, India sets world record

June 18, 2025

Hyderabad, India--In a major leap for Indian agriculture, scientists at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) have developed ICPV 25444, a pigeon pea variety that is both extremely heat-tolerant and photo- and thermo-insensitive; this variety matures in just 125 days and thrives even in extreme summer temperatures reaching 45°C, setting the world record for being the World’s First Heat-resilient Pigeon Pea, according to the WORLD RECORD ACADEMY.

Photo: The Rapid Generation Advancement facility at ICRISAT. ICRISAT has unveiled the world’s first speed-breeding protocol for pigeonpea—an achievement led by Dr Prakash Gangashetty, Senior Scientist-Pigeonpea Breeding, and his team. Developed over a year, the protocol tackled the complex problem of speeding up the generations of crop improvement and reducing the time it took for the advanced cultivar to be submitted for registration trials to 3-4 years./ICRISAT

"In a major leap for Indian agriculture, scientists at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) have developed ICPV 25444, the world’s first pigeonpea variety that is both extremely heat-tolerant and photo- and thermo-insensitive. Developed using a pioneering speed-breeding protocol, this variety matures in just 125 days and thrives even in extreme summer temperatures reaching 45°C," the Agro Spectrum reports.

"Tested successfully across Karnataka, Odisha, and Telangana, ICPV 25444 has shown consistent yields of 2 tons per hectare. Its ability to grow beyond the traditional kharif season marks a transformation in pigeonpea farming—potentially making it an all-season pulse crop for the first time."

"The variety is a result of the first-ever speed breeding protocol for pigeonpea, introduced in 2024 by ICRISAT under the leadership of Dr Prakash Gangashetty. This protocol accelerated breeding cycles from 15 to just 5 years, enabling rapid trait development. By cultivating 18,000 plants per season in compact environments using 4-inch pots and seed-chipping genomic tools, ICRISAT has reshaped pigeonpea improvement timelines," the Agro Spectrum reports.

India currently produces 3.5 million tons of pigeonpea—1.5 million tons short of domestic needs—leading to $800 million in annual imports. ICPV 25444 supports both vertical intensification in kharif and horizontal expansion into rabi and summer fallows, especially in 2–3 million hectares of irrigated tail-end command areas dominated by low-yielding rice systems."

"“This breakthrough in developing a summer-adapted pigeonpea cultivar is a shining example of what science can achieve when driven by urgency and purpose. By transforming pigeonpea into an all-season crop, our scientists have delivered a timely solution with the potential to address pulse shortages and climate challenges facing farmers across India,” said Dr Himanshu Pathak, Director General, ICRISAT.

"This breakthrough was made possible by the world’s first pigeonpea speed-breeding protocol, developed by ICRISAT in 2024. The protocol enabled researchers to grow up to four generations per year, reducing the time required to develop a new variety from 15 years to just five," said Dr Stanford Blade, Deputy Director General-Research and Innovation, ICRISAT."

"Heat-tolerant pigeonpea cultivars offer strong potential for expanding cultivation in India, particularly in 2–3 million ha of tail-end command areas where paddy-paddy, paddy-maize, or paddy-vegetable systems dominate. These regions often face terminal moisture stress, leading to uneconomic second-crop yields," the ICRISAT's official website says.

"Pigeonpea, with a yield potential of 1.5–2 tons/ha, can enhance profitability by USD 234 (₹20,000)/ha. Targeted deployment using remote sensing/GIS, along with improved agronomy and seed systems, could scale adoption to 1 million ha.

Photo: Dr Himanshu Pathak, Director General of ICRISAT (second from left), flanked by Senior Scientist-Pigeonpea Breeding, Dr Prakash Gangashetty (far right), Associate Scientist Dr Shruthi Beliappa (center right), and (far left) Associate Manager Naresh Bomma in the summer-adapted pigeonpea field./All photos: ICRISAT

"India currently produces 3.5 million tons of pigeonpea annually, falling short of the 1.5 million tons needed to meet domestic demand. This results in USD 800 million worth of imports each year.

The new cultivar supports a dual strategy for boosting domestic production:

Vertical expansion through high-yielding varieties for kharif on 5 million hectares.
Horizontal expansion into rice fallows during rabi and unused summer lands with irrigation, enabled by ICPV 25444’s heat tolerance and short duration.