Study Notes

Rabi Pulses
Major Rabi Pulses

Major Rabi Pulses

Crop Common name Botanical name Seed Rate
Chickpea Gram, Bengal Cicer arietinum 75 -100 kg/ha
(King of gram, Chana
Pulses)

LENTIL - Lens culinaris 30 -50kg seed/ha

FIELDPEA Matar Pisum sativum 50-60 kg/ha for small
seeded and 80-90 kg/ha for
bold seeded.
FRENCH Rajmash, kidney Phaseolus vulgaris 120-140 kg/ha
BEAN bean, common
bean

Chickpea / Bengal Gram

• Botanical name: - Cicer arietinum
• Also known as Gram, Bengal gram, Chana
• Chickpeas are mainly of two types i.e.,
o Desi gram/Brown chickpea - (Cicer
arietinum)
o Kabuli/White chickpea - (Cicer kabulium).
• Sour taste of gram leaves is due to presence of
maleic and oxalic acid.
• Chickpea is self-pollinated and long day plant.
• Critical stages for irrigation are pre-flowering and pod development.

Soil and Climate

• It is an annual crop, cultivated in cool season.
• Requires loose and well aerated rough seedbed.
• Kabuli chickpeas are planted when soil temperature at a depth of 2 to 3 inches reaches at
least 10ºC while Desi types are planted in soil that is 4 ºC or above to reduce soil-borne
diseases.
• Fertile sandy & loam soil in various parts of India provide perfect condition for Chickpea
growth.
• Indian weather conditions of 21 ºC to 26 ºC daytime temperatures and 17 ºC to 21 ºC night
temperatures are favorable this crop.
• Comes well under dry tracts with an annual rainfall of 600 – 1000mm.
• Chickpeas have deep tap root system so they can endure drought conditions by extracting
water from deeper soil.
• Late planting of chickpea is done to protect the seedlings from wilt disease.
• Maturing time for Chickpeas is 120 days.

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Major Rabi Pulses

Types of Chickpeas
• There are mainly two types of Chickpeas: Desi and Kabuli.
• Classification is based on seed size, colour, thickness and shape of the seed coat.
• Desi Chickpeas are smaller, angular seeds with thick seed coats that range in colour
from light tan and speckled too solid black. Desi Chickpeas are the most widely grown
under dry land.
• Kabuli chickpeas have larger seeds with paper thin seed coats that range in colour from
white to pale cream to tan.
• In compare with Kabuli chickpeas, Desi chickpeas have a markedly higher fibre content
and hence a very low glycemic index which make them suitable for people with blood
sugar problems.

Seed and Sowing

• Second fortnight of October to first week of November
• Seed rate - 75 -100 kg/ha,
• Depth of sowing – 8 to 10cm
• Spacing - 30 cm between rows for Desi types, 40 to 45 cm for Kabuli types.

Varieties
• Avrodhi (Resistant to wilt disease)
• Gaurav (Resistant to Aschochyta blight)
• Chaffa, C-235, etc.

Nipping

• Plucking the apical buds of the crop at about 30 to 40 DAS is done to stop the apical
growth.
• It promotes the lateral branching, plants to become more vigorous and produce more
flowers and pods and yield per plant is increased.

Harvesting
• The matured plants are cut and dried under direct sun. The dried plants are threshed
using sticks to separate the grains.

Lentil
• Botanical name: - Lens culinaris
• Rich source of Ca, Phosphorous and Iron.
• Protein 24-26%
• Known as cover crop or dryland crop.
• Broadly classified as microsperma and
macrosperma

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Major Rabi Pulses

• Small seeded - Microsperma are predominantly cultivated in India.

• Bold seeded - Macrosperma are large sized grains cultivated in Mediterranean region.
Soil and Climate
• As the crop requires very cool climate it is cultivated in winter season.
• It can tolerate severe winter and frost condition also.
• The suitable soil types are alluvial and black cotton soils.
Seeds and sowing
• The seeds are sown in lines at 20 -30 cm apart using 30 -50kg seed/ha.
• Sowing time may vary from October last week to November.
Yield
• The crop produces 8 – 9 quintals/ha under rainfed and 18-20 quintals/ha under irrigated
condition with good fertilizer management.

Field pea
• Botanical name: - Pisum sativum
• There are two varieties
• Garden pea: P. sativum var. hortense
• Field pea: P. sativum var. arvense
• Critical stages for irrigation are flower initiation
and pod filling stage
• Varieties – Aparna, Arkel, Bonvilley, Rachna,
Pant Marter 5, HUP 2, DMR 11
• Optimum temperature for growth is 13-18°C.
• It is a short-day plant.

Seed and sowing

• Depends up on the size of the seeds & spacing 50-60 kg/ha for small seeded and 80-90
kg/ha for bold seeded.
o North West Plains – end of October
o North East Plains – Second fortnight of November
• Soil moisture availability decides the time.

French bean
• Botanical name: - Phaseolus vulgaris
• Rajmash, kidney bean, common bean etc
• In India – the fresh pods for vegetable are called as
faras and dried pulse as rajmash.
• More fleshy tender pods of round types with less
string are for vegetables compared to flat pods.
• Dried seeds are highly nutritious.
• Varieties in India are: PDR 14, HUR 15, VL 63
• Duration: 110-120 days

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Major Rabi Pulses

• Sowing time in North West Plains – end of October

• North East Plains – Second fortnight of November
• Seed rate – Depends up on the size of the seeds & spacing 120-140 kg/ha.

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Study Notes
Kharif Pulses
Kharif Pulses

MAJOR KHARIF PULSES

Crop Common Botanical name Seed Rate (kg/ha)
name
Pigeon pea Arhar Cajanus cajan Short duration - 12-15 Kg/ha

Medium duration - 10-12 Kg/ha

Long duration - 8-10 Kg/ha

Black gram Urd bean Vigna mungo 20-25 Kg/ha
Green gram Mung bean Vigna radiata 15-20 Kg/ha
Cowpea Lobia Vigna unguiculata 20 Kg/ha

Pigeon pea (Red Gram)

• Botanical name: - Cajanus cajan
• Also known as redgram, congopea, no eye pea,
arhar and tur dal
• Highly nutritious, protein 21-25%
• Varieties of India are classified into 2 groups-

o Cajanus cajan var. falvus (tur)-

➢ Short duration, early maturing.

➢ Annuals, yellow flowers, fewer plain
pods.
➢ Cultivated in Southern India.

o Cajanus cajan var. bicolor (arhar)-

➢ Long duration, late maturing, flowers yellow with purple streak.

➢ Pods are dark colored with 4-5 seeds.
➢ It is also found suitable for forage, as cover crop, shade and hedge crop.
• Pigeon pea works as mini fertilizer.
• It is often cross-pollinated crop.
• Seed germination is hypogeal types.

Climate

• Grown in tropical and sub-tropical climate.

• Highly drought resistant.
• Moist & humid conditions for vegetative period.
• Dry conditions for flowering and pod setting.
• Temperature of 18 – 27°C is desirable.
• There are some varieties which can tolerate <10°C and >35°C.

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Kharif Pulses

Soil

• Light textured, well-drained soil.

• Soil pH = 5-8
• This crop is sensitive to salinity.
• Pigeon pea has the capacity to withstand moisture stress to a great extent because of its
deep and tap rooted system.

Seed rate

• 12-15 kg - short duration variety

• 10-12 kg - medium duration variety
• 8-10 kg - long duration variety

Spacing

• Optimum population is 111,000 plants /ha.

• 45 x 20 or 15 cm for short duration
• 45 x 30 cm for medium duration
• 90 x 30 cm for long duration

Variety

• Early maturing variety of pigeonpea is UPAS-120.

• Short duration variety – Prabhat, Pragati
• First hybrid variety of pigeonpea is ICPH-8, developed by ICRISAT, Hyderabad.

Harvesting

• Indeterminate growth no-synchronized maturity.

• When 70-80% pods turn brown, crop can be harvested.
• Seeds may be stored at 10-12% moisture.
• Harvest index is 19% (lowest among pulses).

Black gram (Urd bean)

• Botanical name: - Vigna mungo
• Short duration pulse crop.
• It can be grown as mixed crop or catch crop.
• Rich in protein - 25-26% It is a crop of Indian
origin.
• It is self-pollinated crop.

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Kharif Pulses

Climate & Soil

• Tropical crop
• Most suitable climate to cultivate black gram is 27-30º C with heavy rainfall.
• This annual crop prefers loamy soil which has high water preservation capability.
• Black gram grows normally in 90-120 days and it also enriches the soil with nitrogen.
• Can tolerates high temperature.

Seed rate

• Required seed rate is 20 - 25 kg /ha.

Greengram (Mung bean)

• Botanical name: - Vigna radiata
• Highly nutritious (23-24% protein)
• It is self-pollinated crop.
• Hardiest crop among all pulses.

Climatic requirement

• Suitable climate for cultivation of Green Gram

should be warm and humid.
• Temperature ranges from 25°C - 35°C.
• Drought resistant but susceptible to frost, water logging and salinity

Seed rate

• Seed rate may vary from 15-20 kg.

Cowpea (Lobia)
• Botanical name: - Vigna unguiculata
• This is a food and animal feed crop.
• It is assumed that name “cowpea” was derived because
it was an important livestock feed for cows in the U.S.

Climatic requirement

• Primarily tropical crop.

• Can tolerate moderate amount of drought and shade.
Requires long day condition for better growth.

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Kharif Pulses

Seed rate & Spacing

• Required seed rate is 20 kg.

• 30 x 15cm, 45 x 15cm