Climate Change Impact on Pigeon Pea (Cajanus cajan) Yield in Maharashtra and Karnataka: A Panel Regression Approach

Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan), also known as tur or red gram, is a vital pulse crop of India, ranking second after gram in acreage and production.It contributes significantly to food and nutritional security, particularly for low-income households.India produces nearly 80% of the world's pigeon pea, primarily under rain-fed conditions in semi-arid regions where yield performance depends heavily on monsoon variability (Ghritlahre et al., 2022).However, pigeon pea yields are increasingly threatened by climate variability.Erratic rainfall, temperature extremes, and delayed monsoon onset disrupt crop growth stages, causing yield fluctuations of 15-25% across major producing regions (Patil et al., 2018;Mishra et al., 2017).Studies by Raju et al., (2014) and Khedikar et al., (2023) identified rainfall distribution and sowing time as key determinants of pigeon pea productivity.Similarly, Musokwa & Mafongoya (2021) emphasized rainfall timing and drought resilience.Nevertheless, most existing analyses are either state-level, shortterm, or simulation-based.Despite pigeon pea's economic and nutritional importance, there is limited long-term, district-level evidence quantifying how rainfall, temperature, and other climatic factors affect yield under rain-fed conditions in India.This study fills this gap using a 56-year (1966-2022) district-level panel dataset for major pigeon pea-producing regions of Maharashtra and Karnataka, applying a random effects regression approach to estimate the influence of key climatic variables on yield outcomes.