Green Gram Production Guide: A Step-By-Step Cultivation Practices for Beginners

Mungbean, or green gram or Moong dal, is a global pulse grain. It is usually a rainy-season crop, but early-maturing varieties make it great for spring and summer. Green gram grows best from the middle of March to the last week of June when sunlight and low humidity reduce insect and disease infestations. It provides high-quality protein in dal, halwa, food, and other forms. Symbiotic nitrogen fixation allows green gram to fix ambient nitrogen.

Green gram production requires good crop control. Disease and insect control, harvesting and storage, land preparation, water management, and others are included. Green waste can enrich the soil with the crop. Green gram sprouts contain Vitamin C, riboflavin, and thiamine.

Green Gram Production Guide

Best Package and Practices of High Green Gram Production

Use certified and Disease free seeds, balanced fertilizers, proper land preparation and nutrients management, pest and disease control, and timely harvesting to maximize green gram production.

Land/ Field Preparation and Soil Requirements for Green Gram

Proper land preparation is essential to successful green gram cultivation. One deep plowing followed by 2-3 harrowings and plankings is suggested for optimum field preparation. The area should be well-leveled and weed-free. Summer pulses are typically planted after the primary crop has been harvested.

Broadcasting is a good way to sow green gram because it saves time and money on field preparation, irrigation, and crop development. Soil requirements for Green gram can be grown in different kinds of soil, like red laterite, black cotton soil, and sandy soil. Soils loam to sandy loam are great for growing plants, but saline-alkaline or acidic soils are not. Because even short waterlogging can harm crops, the soil should be well-drained.

Temperature, Climatic, and Rainfall Requirements for Green Gram

Greengram is most commonly grown during the summer, winter, and rainy seasons. 25 to 35 °C is the range of the temperature. It can withstand moisture stress and requires a warm environment. Locations with an average annual rainfall of 50 to 70 centimeters are ideal for growing green grams. It can grow to 2000 meters above mean sea level.

Seed Rate, Sowing Methods, and Spacing for Green Gram

During the rainy season, a seed rate of around 15 kg/ha or 5-6 kg/acre is usually employed for broadcasting in the cultivation of green gram. However, it has been discovered that row sowing is preferable because it allows for the correct canopy spacing. The row spacing should be between 30 and 45 cm, depending on the sowing date and variety. Effective seeding has been demonstrated with a seed rate of 10 kg and a 30-45 centimeters row spacing. Using a nearby plow or seed drill, one can sow. Fungicide seed treatment is required to control seed-borne diseases.

Crop Rotation and Mixed/Intercropping in Green Gram

Mungbean and wheat/barley, mustard/urdbean, potato/onion, rice/sugarcane, and other popular crop rotations are cultivated in green gram. In addition to growing corn alone, many farmers use the wet season to plant pigeonpea, pearl millet, and sorghum alongside their corn.

Intercropping with pigeonpea, cowpea, and sorghum is more profitable than sole cropping. Still, traditional intercropping includes broadcasting mixed seeds without consideration for planting geometry. The soil is healthier, pest and disease pressures are lower, and crop yields and profits are higher due to these practices.

Manure & Fertilizer Applications in Green Gram

Mungbean usually grows without fertilizers, but research suggests their use can improve yield. Nitrogen application is not needed, lacking, or negative, but a 10–20 kg N/ha starting dose has been suggested. With a dose of 80 kg P2O5/ha, phosphorus application significantly affects yield. Due to the large soil content, potassium responses are typically insignificant. Applying 100 kg of diammonium phosphate per acre for mungbean is advised. Placement of fertilizer should occur at the time of planting. Rhizobium cultures react differently to fertilizer administration.

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Weed Control and Herbicide Application in Green Gram

Traditional mechanical weeding can work, but you can also use herbicides like TOK-E-25 and Lasso to kill weeds before they grow. The best overall yield of mungbean has been discovered in “weed-free” plots with no weed competition. Alachlor at high concentrations can reduce the number of branches and pods per plant.

Fluchloralin and pendimethalin can be useful for weed management. They can increase grain yield when used alone or in conjunction with one-handed weeding. The management of barnyard grass in mungbean can be done with the help of flauzifopbutyl and senthoxydim.

Water Management/ Irrigation in Green Gram

Green gram only requires irrigation during the rainy season if there is a prolonged drought. Green gram cultivation requires adequate drainage to be successful. Irrigation facilities are required for rabi and summer green gram. Generally, three to five irrigations are required during summer cultivation.

An increase in moisture supply due to irrigation significantly impacts yield. Irrigation is required during the flowering and pod-forming phases. Increasing row spacing may reduce grain yield in all moisture besides the wet regime (irrigation) at 75% available moisture. The highest yield at with irrigation at 50% available moisture and 30 cm row spacing.

Disease Control in Green Gram

Green gram is prone to various diseases such as Anthracnose, Wet Blight, Bacterial Leaf Spot, Cercospora Leaf Spot, Dry Root Rot and Stem Rot, Mosaic Mottle, and Yellow Mosaic. Anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum capsici is characterized by dark brown circular spots on leaves and pods.

Disease-free seeds and fungicides such as Bavistin can control the disease. Wet Blight caused by fungi Fusarium sp., macrophomina phaseolina, Pythium sp., and Rhizoctonia Solani Kuhn results in the poor plant stand. Seed treatment with fungicides such as thiram or captan can control the disease. Similarly, other diseases can be controlled with seed treatment, fungicides, and resistant and tolerant varieties.

Pest Control in Green Gram

Borers, hairy caterpillars, jassids, and whitefly are the most prevalent pests of green gram. Borers feed on the pollen and petals of flowers, resulting in poor production of grains. Insecticides such as phorate, Coragan, and disulfoton can be applied to the soil at sowing time to contain them. The hairy caterpillar feeds on the leaves in batches, scraping the lower surface while keeping the top cuticle and veins intact.

Apply insecticides such as Thiodan and Rogor can be sprayed. Jassids are damaging bugs that cause leaves to be brown, curl from the edges, and dry out. Spraying 0.4% monocrotophos and other insecticides can aid in their management. Whiteflies are significant vectors of viral diseases that can be reduced by repetitive insecticide spraying.

Harvesting and Threshing of Green Gram

Green gram should be harvested when approximately 85 percent of the pods are completely mature, the plants are yellow or dried leaves, and the pods are dry and black. A delay in harvesting may result in pod splitting and yield loss. The plant material is uprooted, sun-dried on a surface, and stored at 9-10% moisture.

Threshing can be performed by hand or by machine. The pods are beaten with sticks or struck against a firm surface in manual threshing. In larger fields, threshing machines remove pods from plants and separate grains from pods. The grains are winnowed after threshing to remove debris.

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Green Gram Yield per Acre

Based on the average yields of 600–700 kg/ha and 1100–1300 kg/ha, the estimated yield of green Kg per acre would be between 250 and 300 kilograms during the Kharif season and 420 and 550 kilograms during the summer season.

Conclusion

Green gram is an important crop because of its rising demand and great nutritional value. Successful green gram cultivation with optimum yield can be attained through careful attention to land preparation, seed selection, fertilization, weed and pest management, and timely harvesting.

Green Gram Production Guide: A Step-By-Step Cultivation Practices for Beginners