Marketing
India is the main destination for pigeon peas, although smaller markets exist where Indians have settled in other countries. Seed is usually sold as the dry split pea (dhal) for human consumption. The marketing of pigeon pea will probably follow the pattern set by the chickpea industry, which has an entirely free market.
Some growers choose to grow at least part of their crops under contract, whereas others waituntil harvest to find an outlet for their product. Minimum export standards for machine-dressed pigeon peas are given in Table 2.
Pigeon peas contain tannin and trypsin inhibitors in the seed. Heat treatment by cooking removes the trypsins, but you should take care if you intend to feed unprocessed pigeon peas to livestock. Pigeon pea protein levels are usually around 20 per cent.
