Which one of the following crops has the lowest harvest index?

✅Explanation: Harvest index is the ratio of economic yield (the weight of the harvested part of the crop) to biological yield (the total dry matter produced by the crop). Pigeonpea has a lower harvest index compared to maize, potato, and rice because a significant portion of its biomass is in the form of stems and leaves, which are not harvested for consumption.

📌 Other Options Explanations:
-(A) Maize: Maize has a relatively high harvest index, as a large portion of its biomass is allocated to the grain.
-(B) Potato: Potato also has a high harvest index, as the tubers are the primary economic product.
-(D) Rice: Rice has a moderate harvest index, with the grain being the harvested portion.

🔑Key Points:
-Pigeonpea (Arhar) is commonly known as red gram or tur.
-Botanical Name – Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp
-It is mainly eaten in the form of the split pulse as ‘dal’.
-Seeds of arhar are also rich in iron, iodine, essential amino acids like lycine, threonine, cystine, and arginine, etc.
-It is predominantly a crop of tropical areas mainly cultivated in semi-arid regions of India
-It is very sensitive to low radiation at pod development, therefore flowering during the monsoon and cloudy weather leads to poor pod formation.
-It is successfully grown in black cotton soils, well-drained with a pH ranging from 7.0-8.5.
-It responds well to properly tilled and well-drained seedbeds.
-Three systems of sowings are practiced for pigeon pea. The common is flat sowing, the other methods are broad bed-furrow (BBF) for the extra-early group and ridge-and-furrow for the late maturity group.
-The seeding rate of pigeon pea depends on the desired plant density for a genotype (early, medium, or late), cropping system (pure crop, mixed crop, or intercrop), the germination rate of seed, and mass of seed.