DO YOU WANT TO CULTIVATE REDGRAM?

INTRODUCTION

Botanical name of redgram is Cajanus cajan, it belongs to Leguminosae, its cultivation dates back to 3500 years, it is believed to be originated in peninsular India, it is a perineal kharif season crop. It is the second most important pulse crop in India next to Bengal gram. It contains 22% of protein, it is rich in lysine, riboflavin, thiamine, niacin and iron.it is mainly grown in

UP, MP, Maharashtra, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal, Assam, Orissa, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala. 80% of production is Maharashtra, MP, Karnataka, UP, Gujarat and Jharkhand. Redgram is diploid with chromosome number 2n=22, it is a shrub and can grow from 1to 4 m height, branching starts when the plant grows15-20 cm above the ground level. It has central tap root system with secondary roots which bears the nodules. Stem is strong and woody. Leaves are pinnately compound, trifoliate with oblong, lanceolate leaflets with dense hair on them. Inflorescence is axillary raceme bearing panicle at the tip, it is mostly self-pollinated.

Fruit of pegion pea is pod.

CLIMATE

Redgram requires 26⁰C to 30⁰C in the rainy season i.e., June to October and 17⁰C to 22⁰C in the post rainy i.e., November to March season, it is sensitive to low temperature during pod development stage. It requires 600 to 1400 mm of rainfall. Growing season ranges from 120180 days.

SOIL

It can be grown in soils with PH ranging from 7.0 – 8.5.  In India it is cultivated on Entisols, Alfisols, Inceptisols, and Vertisols.

SOWING

Early Maturing varieties are sown during first fortnight of June whereas Medium & Late Maturing Varieties are sown during Second fortnight of June. Seeds are sown by drilling and ferti-cum-seed drill is used to sow seeds and fertilizers simultaneously. Seeds are sown at the rate of 20-25 Kg/ha is used for early maturing varieties and 15 – 20 k g/ha for medium and late maturing varieties. Early maturing varieties are sown at a spacing of 45 – 60 cm * 10 – 15 cm, whereas medium and late maturing varieties are sown at 60 – 75 * 15 – 20 cm. In India early sowing gives high yields. Generally, seeds are sown in flat beds or Broad bed furrows. 12.5 kg

N + 25 kg P2O5 + 12.5 kg K2O +10 kg S/ha is applied in rainfed condition whereas 25 kg N + 50 kg P2O5 + 25 kg K2O + 20 kg S/ha are applied in irrigated condition.

WATER MANAGEMENT

 It requires 300-400 mm of water through out its growing period. Critical stages for irrigation are at branching stage i.e., 30 DAS, flowering stage i.e., 70 DAS, Pod development stage i.e., 110 DAS.

WEED MANAGEMENT

Growth period of 4-6 weeks is the critical period for weed growth, two mechanical weeding’s are done one at 20 – 25 days and another at 45 – 50 days after sowing, Pre-emergence application of pendimethalin i.e., Stomp a.i. 1.0-1.5 kg/ha. 

CROPPING SYSTEM

One row of long duration variety of redgram can be intercropped with every six rows of groundnut and one row of short and medium duration redgram variety can be intercropped with 

                        Redgram + Groundnut                                               Maize + Redgram

every 4 rows of groundnut. Redgram can be intercropped with sorghum, maize, pearl millet, finger millet, groundnut, cowpea, mung bean, black gram, soybean, caster, cotton and sugarcane.

HARVESTING AND THRESHING

Harvesting is done when the pods turn to brown  colour, when the  seeds are at 20-22 % moisture, they are harvested by cutting with sickle at 75 cm above the ground level. Threshing is done either  by using sticks or by pullman thresher, they are  sundried for 2-3 days till the moisture content is

reduced to 9-10 %.

YIELD

Yield of 15-20 q/ha can be obtained in rainfed condition, 25-30 q/ha in irrigated condition and 50 – 60 q/ha of sticks are obtained which can be used for fuel.

RESEARCH READINGS

 C. Sivakumar, Krishnaveni, M. Pandiyan conducted study the influence of foliar nutrition on pod setting percentage, yield and economics of redgram (Cajanus cajan (L.)  under the irrigated condition at Regional Research Station, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Paiyur – 635 112, Tamil Nadu, India in Kharif season of 2016-17. They gave 5 treatments i.e., T1- foliar application of 2% DAP twice at flowering stage and 15 days after first spray, T2- Foliar application of TNAU pulse wonder at 5 kg/ha at peak flowering, T3- Foliar application of 0.5% MAP twice at flowering and 15 days after first spray, T4- Foliar application of CCC 200 ppm twice at flowering and 15 days after first spray, T5- Control treatment with water spray. It was concluded that T3- 0.5% mono ammonium phosphate (MAP) at flowering and 15 days after the first spray recorded the higher grain and stalk yield of 1522 and 6222 kg/ha respectively and there was yield was 25% higher over control (water spray) and 12% higher over application of CCC 200 ppm twice at flowering stage and 15 days after the first spray

(https://doi.org/10.9734/jabb/2019/v22i430125).

R. K. Sarkar, D. Shit conducted field experiment in rainy season i.e., June to December in 1988 and 1989 at Deochanda Experiment Station, Bihar, India, indicated that intercropping cereals, pulses and oilseeds with normal planted base crop of redgram. This showed increased land use efficiency and gave higher yields compared to pure cropping of redgram under rainfed conditions on upland oxisols of Bihar plateau. maize, rice and fingermillet were more aggressive in intercropping system and they showed depressing effect on redgram whereas

Intercropping of short duration pulses like blackgram and greengram and legume‐oilseed crops like peanut and soybean with redgram showed balanced competitive abilities and prooved more efficient in the system. Intercropping system of redgram‐groundnut proved to be the most efficient and productive ( https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439–037X.1993.tb01072.x).