When to plant Pigeon pea in Damboa

Borno, Nigeria

Known here as waken-turawa · otili · fiofio

Pigeon pea (red gram) is a hardy, woody bush bean that sends a taproot two metres deep, so it keeps growing and podding long after other crops burn off in the dry.

Pigeon pea in Damboa, rain-fed and with irrigation
Measure	Rain-fed	With irrigation
Fit	Favourable
When to plant (establish)	21 May 2027 – 10 Jun 2027 opens in 33 weeks	21 Jan 2026 – 1 Jan 2027
Expected harvest	about 1.7 t/ha	same
Bearing cycle	90–300 days per crop once the plant is established. Planting to the first harvest takes longer than one cycle.
Rain meets its needs	83%

Rain-fed. These dates are worked out from each place's own rainfall, for a field watered by the season — with irrigation a window can open earlier, close later, or come round more than once a year. Check your own field under What grows, or get the Divisi app for a calendar dated to your farm.

If you only get one chance to plant, aim for around 21 May 2027. That is the point in the window where the rains are most reliably established.

This season's rainfall outlook for Damboa is close to normal, so these dates match the pattern the area usually follows.

Planting after 10 Jun 2027 leaves the crop short of season: it runs into the dry months before it has finished filling.

What decides this in Damboa

Rain and temperature	96%
The soil	96%
The lie of the land	96%

For pigeon pea in Damboa, rain and temperature is the tightest of the three at 96%. This one is fixed. It is why the planting window above is where it is — hitting those dates is the whole of your control here.

The 2027 season in Damboa

Rainy seasons	One each year — one chance to plant, so timing carries it
When the rains are expected	June 2027 to October 2027
Rain in a typical year	About 626 mm
This season's rain	Rain close to usual — plan around about 626 mm falling roughly when it always does
This season's heat	Hotter than usual — about +1.2 °C over the growing months. Heat makes the same rain do less, so a dry spell bites sooner: do not plant late, and shade or mulch what you can.
What that supports	enough rain for one short crop, and only if timed to it, warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season
Ground this covers	One kind of ground throughout.

last updated 16 September 2026

What pigeon pea needs to grow here

Soil it likes	well-drained sand, sandy loam, loam, clay loam or clay soil
Soil sourness (pH)	Happiest between pH 5.0 and 7.0
Spacing	75 cm between rows, 30 cm between plants
Feed it most with	phosphorus and sulphur

What it takes to grow pigeon pea in Damboa

Planting material	About 75,000 plants per hectare
Nitrogen (N)	About 102 kg per hectare — the crop fixes most of this itself; inoculated seed matters more than a bag
Phosphate (P₂O₅)	About 20 kg per hectare
Potash (K₂O)	About 42 kg per hectare
In the shops	A basal compound at planting — Compound D, or an NPK blend — covers the phosphate and potash. Skip the nitrogen top dressing; inoculated seed does that job.

These are the nutrients a pigeon pea crop of that size carries off the field. What you actually apply depends on what your soil already holds — which is what a soil test, or the app's field records, tell you.

What to watch for

Pest/disease risk — manageable

Grow Pigeon pea with a plan, not a guess

Everything above describes Damboa as a whole — your own soil, slope and rainfall will shift the dates. The Divisi app works them out for your field, and dates each job that follows.

Or check your field first

Pigeon pea in nearby districts

How to grow Pigeon pea, step by step Land preparation to harvest — every task, in order

Frequently asked questions

Will pigeon pea grow well in Damboa?

Damboa rates as favourable for pigeon pea.

When should I plant pigeon pea in Damboa?

Typically 21 May 2027 to 10 Jun 2027, forecast-adjusted.

Is this exact for my own field?

No — these are readings taken across Damboa, not on your field. Soil, slope and rainfall change from one farm to the next. Check your own location to see your own numbers.