Pigeon Peas
Pigeon Peas Specifications
Machine cleaned and colour sorted pigeon pea parameters, what each one means commercially, and how the final contract specification is agreed.
The tables below set out typical export specifications for pigeon peas at two cleaning levels. They are indicative contract parameters of the kind used across the trade, not laboratory results and not a guarantee attaching to any particular lot. The specification that governs a shipment is the one written into the contract, agreed against the buyer's requirement and, where appearance matters, against an approved sample.
Two parameters deserve attention before the rest. Moisture is the only one that cannot be corrected after the container is closed, and it is the usual root cause of arrival claims on this commodity. Insect damage is the parameter that most reliably distinguishes a well-handled lot from a poorly handled one, because it reflects storage discipline between harvest and shipment as much as anything done on the cleaning line.
Choosing between machine cleaned and colour sorted
Machine cleaning is mechanical: pre-cleaning, aspiration, screening, destoning and gravity separation. It removes foreign matter, light and immature grain, stone and a large share of insect-damaged seed. It does not correct colour.
Colour sorting adds an optical pass that ejects discoloured, stained and off-colour grain by camera. It raises the visual grade and tightens defect percentages, and it costs more because the reject fraction is larger.
For a dal mill, machine cleaned is usually the right commercial answer, because the mill removes the husk anyway and is buying on yield. For a retail packer or a buyer whose customer sees the pea whole, colour sorting is normally worth specifying. Over-specifying a milling contract simply prices it out.
Specification
Typical export specifications
Pigeon Peas — Machine Cleaned
Whole pigeon peas (tur / toor / arhar), East African origin
- Product
- Whole pigeon peas, Cajanus cajan
- Origin
- Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda
- Crop year
- Stated on contract
- Moisture
- 12% max
- Purity
- 98% min
- Foreign matter
- 1% max
- Admixture
- 2% max
- Damaged and discoloured
- 2% max
- Broken and split
- 2% max
- Insect damaged
- 2% max
- Immature and shrivelled
- 1% max
- Colour
- As per approved sample
- GMO status
- Not genetically modified
Notes on specific parameters
- Crop year — Contract on a specific crop year; it materially affects colour, cooking behaviour and insect load.
- Moisture — Lower moisture is specified for longer transits and humid discharge ports.
- Foreign matter — Stone, soil, straw, pod and extraneous seed.
- Admixture — Other colours and off-variety grain.
- Colour — Red-brown, light brown or white depending on the type contracted.
- GMO status — There are no commercially cultivated genetically modified varieties of this crop.
- Tighter parameters are available on a colour-sorted basis — see the Sortex specification.
- Final specification is agreed per contract and, where required, against an approved sample.
Pigeon Peas — Colour Sorted
Machine cleaned and optically sorted
- Product
- Whole pigeon peas, colour sorted
- Origin
- Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique
- Crop year
- Stated on contract
- Moisture
- 12% max
- Purity
- 99% min
- Foreign matter
- 0.5% max
- Admixture
- 1% max
- Damaged and discoloured
- 1% max
- Broken and split
- 1% max
- Insect damaged
- 1% max
- Immature and shrivelled
- 0.5% max
- GMO status
- Not genetically modified
Notes on specific parameters
- Crop year — Contract on a specific crop year; it materially affects colour, cooking behaviour and insect load.
- GMO status — There are no commercially cultivated genetically modified varieties of this crop.
- Colour sorting raises the visual grade and reduces defect percentages; it increases the reject fraction and therefore the price.
- Sorting intensity is set against the contract, not applied at a single fixed setting.
Specifications shown are indicative contract parameters used across the trade. They are not laboratory results and are not a guarantee attaching to any particular lot. The specification that governs a shipment is the one written into its contract, agreed against the buyer’s requirement and, where appearance matters, against an approved sample.
Frequently asked questions
Are these specifications guaranteed?
No. They are typical contract parameters used across the trade. The specification that applies to a shipment is the one written into the contract for that shipment, agreed against your requirement and, where appearance matters, against an approved sample.
Can tighter tolerances be supplied?
Tighter parameters are achievable through additional cleaning and sorting passes, at a cost that reflects the larger reject fraction. State the tolerances you need in the enquiry and they can be assessed against the current crop.
Request pigeon peas availability
Send your target origin, specification, quantity, packing, destination port and Incoterm, and we will come back with a position against the current crop.
- Origin
- Specification
- Crop year
- Quantity
- Packing
- Destination port
- Incoterm