Morphophysiology and Yield Variability of Fieldpea Genotypes in Rainfed Rice Fallows

The sustainable intensification of rice fallows starts with identification suitable crop/genotype and resource conservation technologies. Therefore, we evaluated nine fieldpea genotypes under zero-tilled (ZT) rainfed condition after harvesting rice. Tall genotypes ('IPF 12-7' and 'IPF 12-20') matured within 102-107 days, while dwarf genotypes ('IPFD 10-13', 'IPFD 14-2') matured within 95-99 days. 'IPFD 10-13' and 'IPFD 14-2' had the higher normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values (0.69 to 0.72) (p < 0.05). Also, these genotypes had significantly higher relative water content (8.5-13.4%), chlorophyll content (27.4-33.8%), and nitrogen balance index (8.4-14.9%) over the 'IPF 12-7' (national check). 'IPFD 10-13' and 'IPFD 14-2' had higher grain yield (mean of 2 years: 1.12-1.15 t/ha) than other genotypes (p < 0.05). Distinctiveness versus representativeness and mean versus stability analysis revealed consistency of 'IPFD 10-13', 'IPFD 14-2', and 'IPF 10-13' over years. Therefore, 'IPFD 10-13', 'IPFD 14-2', and 'IPF 10-13' could be successfully grown in the rainfed rice fallows for intensification.