Red gram cultivation With all important facts including uses

Red gram cultivation

In this post, we have added all important details about Red gram cultivation, red Gram uses, red gram health benefits, distribution, importance, classification, varieties, and all-important. Let’s read all about a red gram.

Introduction to Red Gram

The common name of a red gram is Pigeon Pea. In Hindi, we also know red gram as tur or arhar. In India, they also cultivated red gram from ancient times. Red Gram is one of the most important pulse crops according to demand  & uses its stand on the second position after Bengal gram.

Health Benefits Of Red Gram

The first health benefits of a red gram are it regulates blood pressure. Because of potassium present in the red gram, it is very helpful for those who have hypertension or cardiovascular disease.

The second health benefit of a red gram is very useful in the growth and development of the human body it contains a large amount of protein & as we know that protein is body building element it is very necessary for the growth and development of muscles, bones it is also important for healing and regeneration of tissue.

The third health advantage of a red gram it is useful to prevent anaemia because it contains an outrageous amount of folate and folate deficiency can cause anaemia.

The fourth health benefit of a red gram it is very useful for Weight Loss because it contains an in-considerable amount of saturated fat and cholesterol. It increases the rate of metabolism in our body and decreases the rate of weight gain in the human body.

The fifth important health benefit of a red gram it is useful for Immune System it helps in strengthening the immune system of the body, it contains an enormous amount of Vitamin C and as we know Vitamin C is helpful in producing white blood cells which act as an antioxidant in the body.

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Importance Of Red Gram

Red gram is a very important source of protein, iron, iodine & some essential amino acids like lysine, tyrosine, cystine, protein percentage in red gram is approx 22.3% so we know it as a rich source of protein, it is consumed as dal and also used for preparing curries. We use the sweet green pod as a vegetable.

We can do red gram cultivation as a major crop or inter-crop or with other crops. We use it as a primary crop or a secondary crop. It is on the choice of farmers.

We also do red gram farming as a cash crop & also use it as fodder for animals which is good for the health of milch cattle because of its high protein percentage fibres and other nutrients.

As we know, it is a leguminous plant, so as same as all other leguminous crops, it can fix atmospheric nitrogen and, by this, we restored the lost nitrogen in the soil, which is good for soil structure.

Red gram has a deep root system, and it extracts minerals, nutrients, moisture from the deep soil. In this process, it breaks the hardpans of the soil, which is helpful in improving the structural condition of the soil.

Red gram is also useful for preventing soil from erosion. Nowadays, it is a major problem. It encourages the moment of water in the soil.

We can do red gram farming on any type of soil, even on mountain slopes. Because it can grow in different climatic conditions and protects the soil from erosion.

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Origin of red gram

According to the ancient research document, we are doing red gram cultivation for over three thousand years. We believe that red gram origin is near the Nile River, or Angola districts of Africa, but according to the scientist’s, Vavilov in 1951 India is the origin of the red gram.

Distribution

We cultivate red gram all over the world, including Southeast Asia, Africa, America, India. Major red gram farming growing countries are India & Africa.

Classification of red gram

The family of Red gram is Leguminosae (Fabaceae)

We can classify it into two different types:-

• 1st one is Cajanus Cajan variety bicolor:- the colour of the flower of this variety is yellow, the plant is bushy and tall, pods are of dark colour which contains approx four to five seeds, we do its cultivation all over the world
• 2nd one is Cajanus cajan variety flavus:- the color of the flower of this variety is also yellow as compared to 1st variety the size of the plant is small, the pod also contain only two to three seeds, but this is an early maturing variety so it is cultivated more, it is also cultivated all over the world.

Climatic Requirement for red gram farming

We can do red gram cultivation as rabi crops and also as Kharif crops but in Kharif season it requires temperature up to 17-22 degrees celsius. If we are doing red gram cultivation, in rabi season temperature requirement for red gram, cultivation is up to 17-22 degrees celsius.

As we know, we mainly grow it in tropical and sub-tropical climates. It requires cool and bright sunny days for the proper growth and development including flowering, ripening & also for the setting of pods. It can tolerate heavy rains, light frost. We can easily grow in water-logged conditions. Because of its deep root system, we can easily grow it in moisture stress conditions.

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Soil Requirement for red gram farming

Red gram cultivation needs the soil with a light texture of well-drained soil. It can grow many types of soil, from sandy loam to clay soil. For the proper growth and development of the plant, the soil should be neutral, not too acidic or basic, but we can also cultivate red gram in saline soil.

Production and yield vary depending on soil and climatic conditions because of the presence of nutrients in the soil, water holding capacity of the soil and favourable environment.

Varieties For Red Gram Cultivation

As we know, red gram is one of the most important crops, so many of the new varieties for different environmental conditions, maturity periods, hybrids, etc…

Something mostly cultivated short duration high yielding crops as rabi crops

Short-duration crops take approx 130-180 days. Longer duration crops take up to 240 – 300 days.

• The name of some Hybrid Varieties is- ICPH 8, COH-1, COH-2, PPH 4, etc.
• Name of short varieties are:- BDN-1, CO-3, Prabhat, Pusa Ageti, Pusa 74, Pusa 84, etc
• The name of Medium Varieties is– Laxmi, Mukta, etc…
• Name of Late Varieties:- Bahar, Gwalior-3, etc.

Land Preparation For Red Gram Cultivation

As we have discussed above, that red gram has a deep root system so it needs proper tilth. It requires deep ploughing to a depth of approx 15 to 17 cm, Desi plough or cross plough can be used for proper tilth.

Sowing Method For Red Gram

Time of Sowing

As we know, the time of the sowing is very important for the growth and development of the crop. From old times it is the crop of Kharif crop, mainly the showing time is June – July which is the onset of the monsoon.

Seed Rate required for red gram farming

seed rate depends upon the size of seeds, the spacing between the seeds, and other important factors in gram cultivation 15 to 30 kg/ha seed is needed, if we talk about inter-cropping/mixed cropping it requires approx 7-10 kg/ha.

Seed Treatment

Seed treatment should be done with P- solubilizer at the rate of 350g/ha

Method of Sowing

The sowing method of Red gram is a broadcasting method. The depth of show is 4 to 5 cm. Showing in rows can be done with the help of a Desi plough. We can also grow it on the ridge and furrows. We show it on the ridge because it can’t grow in the water-logged condition; it requires a well-drained field.

Nutrient Management for Red Gram

The nutrient requirement in Red gram is very high, so before the application of chemical fertilizers, a soil test is necessary before application

Manures Requirement

FYM Requirement 10 to 12 t/ha is necessary. We applied FYM  25 to 30 days before showing for decomposition in the soil.

Fertilizer Requirement

Nitrogen Requirement for red gram farming:- As we know, red gram is a legume crop, and it fixes atmospheric nitrogen in the soil, so it doesn’t need much nitrogen. Starting dose of nitrogen should not be more than 10-30 kg N/ha.

We will suggest farmers incorporate non-leguminous green manure crops because red gram is a leguminous crop, so we are suggesting non -leguminous it will help to decrease the chemical fertilizer requirement in red gram farming.

Phosphorus Requirement for red gram farming:- Phosphorus is very important for the growth & development of the plant. It is important for the root and nodules development, the required amount is 50-60 kg P2O5/ha.

Potassium Requirement for red gram farming:- Requirement of potassium in red gram is not too high. If available, Potassium is less in soil than we should apply it at 20-30 kg K2O/ha.

Water Management for Red Gram

It requires an exorbitant amount of water for a short duration. Red gram requires an outrageous amount of water because it has grown at a high density. It requires more irrigation during two critical stages, during the Pod filling stage and during the Branching stage. The water we need for irrigation is 55- 60 cm.

Weed Management for Red Gram farming

As compared to another legume crop, the initial growth of red gram is very slow, so the competition between crop and weed is very high, so it is very necessary to do weed management.

As we have previously discussed above that it grows in the rainy season so it is very tough to suppress the growth of weed growth because it gets the proper amount of moisture which is very necessary for the growth of weed.

Access weed can cause a loss of up to 90% if it is not timely controlled so it is necessary to do the proper weed management.

These are the most common weeds that damages the crop are Digitaria species, Setaria glauca, Amaranthus species, Celosia argentea, Commelina benghalensis, and Euphorbia species.

Timely control of weed is very necessary, the critical period of weed control is the first 60 days.

For Controlling the weed, we do application of chemical herbicides within the growth period control of the weed.  Ex:- Alachlor, or Metolachlor 1.0 kg a.i./ha.

At the proper gap of time approx. 10-12 days process of hand weeding should done to keep the field weed-free.

Plant Protection for Red Gram

Major Insect Pests

Pod Borer:- pod borer is one of the major insects that damage the grain. Pod borer enters the pod of the grains after that feed and develops in the grains at the larva stage pod borer enters the pod of the grain. It can damage up to 10 to 90% every year. The chemical insecticide Endosulfan can control it at 0.07 % or Monocrotophos at 0.04 %.

Pod Fly:- It is also one of the most damaging insects in this crop. It can damage up to 40 to 60 %. We can control it by spraying the chemical insecticides Monocrotophos at a rate of 0.04% /ha. It has proved effective in controlling Pod Fly.

Disease in red gram

A disease that is common in red gram is Wilt, Stem Rot, Leaf Spots, Sterility Mosaic

• Wilt:- it is a soil-borne disease, affected part is leaves of the plant which become yellow, leaves start dropping after yellowing and at the end plant dies. Not any chemical control is possible in this disease. The natural way to control this disease is burning the effective part of the plant, mixed cropping, and growing a disease-resistant variety.
• Stem Rot:- The affected part of the plants is steam. They form dark brown patches on the stem of the plant near the soil. Control of this disease uses disease-resistant varieties, a proper drainage system can also control the disease.
• Leaf Spots:- The affected part is the leaves. At first, several types of spots are formed, then leaves start drying. It can be controlled by spraying of distance M-45 at 0.3% per hec.
• Sterility Mosaic:- This disease affects the whole plant. The colour of the affected plant becomes pale green, and we can also see the size of the leaves becomes small. Because the mosaic virus causes this.
• They transmit this disease from one plant to another plant. We do not find proper control measures for this disease till now.

Harvesting of Red Gram

Harvesting is done with the sickle. At the time of harvesting, the colour of the pod is brown. After harvesting, threshing starts where grains get separated from plants. After threshing, it should be sun-dried and then it should store.

The yield of Red Gram

• The yield of improved variety  25- 30 q/ha
• In inter-cropping yield maybe got 2-5 q/ha

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source:- Wikipedia