Nutrient requirements of pigeonpea are: Fertilizers are not applied to pigeonpea in traditional systems,perhaps due to the wrong belief that it does not respond to fertilizers. Low in traditional cropping systems, met from adequate nitrogen fixation, or from existing soil nutrients. Intensively managed short duration cultivar will produce 2 t of grain/ha and 6 t stalks/ha ,132 kg N, 20 kg P, and 53 kg K/ha. Pigeonpea seedlings depend on soil-nitrogen in its early stages. So, pigeonpea do respond to a “starter dose” of 15 to 20 kg N/ha. In the later stages of plant growth, most of the nitrogen required by plants is derived from fixation in nodules. P is the most frequently limiting nutrient and application of 17 to 26 kg P/ha gave higher yield than no application. Deficiencies of Potassium (K), Zinc (Zn) and other elements have been recorded on some soils. Zinc deficiency is corrected by applying zinc sulfate at 4 to 8 kg/ha Zn.

Fig. Response of pigeonpea to phosphorus Nitrogen fixation by pigeonpea :
Nodulation in Pigeonpea	Pigeonpea is nodulated by rhizobia belonging to the “cowpea-miscellany”. Estimates of fixed N in pigeonpea genotypes of different maturity ranged from 6 to 69 kg N he-1. A long-duration pigeonpea grown in northern India could fix up to 200 kg N he-1 over a period of 40 weeks. 90% of N in medium-duration pigeonpea grown as a sole crop in balck soil was derived from fixation.

Timing and Placement:
Additional nutrient requirements of ratooning and perennial pigeonpea systems need to be considered.	Fertilizers are usually applied to pigeonpea at sowing. Placement of P fertilizer at a depth of 10 or 15 cm increased yield by 35% over broadcast application. Foliar application of K is also effective. Pigeonpea seedlings are prone to chloride (Cl) toxicity if muriate of potash (KCl) is placed too close to the seed row.