Evaluation of 25 pigeon pea Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp lines for selection and use as tropical forage legume

In order to select promissory pigeon pea Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp. forage lines, a trial was conducted at the experimental farm of the University of Zulia, Agronomy Faculty located on the Maracaibo's plain (Venezuela). Twenty five lines were evaluated: 24 introduced from India by INIA-Yaracuy and a control collected by INIA-Yaracuy in the field (TAC-401). A simple lattice design (5 x 5) was used with 4 replications. Stem thickness (ST), days to 50% blooming (DB), days to harvest (DH), plant height (PH), fructiferous branches (FB), foliage fresh weight (FW), pods per plant(-1) (PP), weight of 100 seeds (WS) and plant yield (YP) were measured. Averages of ST, DB, DH, PH, FB, FW, PP, PS y RP were statistically different (P<0.05). The lines ICPL-8590, ICPL-9965 e ICPL-13172 were selected as promissory forage lines, due to the high fresh weight of the foliage, relatively long growth periods to harvest and high seed yield.