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A field experiment was conducted to study the “growth and development of transplanted and direct sown pigeonpea at different cropping geometry and intercropping systems’’ at Main Agricultural Research Station, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka on medium deep black soil under rainfed condition during 2016. The experiment was laid out using randomized complete block design with twelve treatment combinations replicated thrice. The treatments consisted of transplanted pigeonpea at 120 cm x 60 cm planting geometry, direct sown pigeonpea at 120 cm x 60 cm and 90 cm x 30 cm planting geometries, intercropped with soybean, greengram and blackgram at 1:2 row proportion and compared with sole treatments of transplanted and direct sown pigeonpea for their physiological growth parameters.  Significantly higher leaf area (88.20 dm²), total dry matter production (163.61 g plant^-1), absolute growth rate (14.87 g plant^-1day^-1), crop growth rate (20.65 g m^-2day^-1), biomass duration (11599 g days) at all the growth stages and grain yield (2,662 kg ha^-1) of pigeonpea were recorded with sole transplanted pigeonpea at a planting geometry (120 cm × 60 cm) as compared to leaf area, total dry matter production, absolute growth rate, crop growth rate, biomass duration and grain yield of pigeonpea in direct sown pigeonpea intercropping systems and sole direct sown pigeonpea treatments except transplanted pigeonpea at 120 cm × 60 cm geometry with greengram and soybean intercropping systems which were on par with each other.

Key words: Pigeonpea, Transplanting, Direct sowing, Crop growth rate, Biomass duration