It belongs to Leguminaceae family. It is a cool season crop grown throughout the world. Green pods are used for vegetable purpose and dried peas are used as pulse. In India, it is cultivated in Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka and Bihar. It is rich source of proteins, amino acids and sugars. Green peas straw is good source of nutritional fodder for live stocks.   

In Maharashtra, Ahmadnagar, Nashik, Pune, khandesh and Satara are major matar growing area.

It can grow on various soil type from sandy loam to clay soils. It gives best results when grown under well drained soil with pH range of 6 to 7.5. Crop cannot withstand in water logging conditions. For acidic soil, do liming.

Arkel: Dwarf, Early maturing variety with long, dark green pods. Gives yield of 16-18qtl/acre.

Bonneville: Medium duration with sweet grains pods. Gives average yield of 36qtl/acre. 

Aparna: High yielding, dwarf variety. It is resistant to Powdery mildew and wilt disease.

Asauji: Early maturing variety, developed at IARI.

Alaska: Early maturing variety with dark green colored grains.

Other state varieties: 

Pant Uphar: Gives average yield of 40qtl/acre.  

Arka Garima: Hybrid. Bushy plant with round, thick pods. Tolerant to drought conditions. Ready to harvest in 45 to 50days. Gives average yield of 80-100qtl/acre.

Multi Freezer: Late maturing variety with sweet, tender pods. It is tolerant to frost. Gives average yield of 25qtl/acre. 

Azad P-I: Dwarf variety with wrinkle grains. Gives average yield of 16qtl/acre. 

Early E-6: Developed by Punjab Agricultural University. Gives average yield of 40qtl/acre.

Kashi Nandini: Released by Indian institute of vegetable research, Varanasi. Pods are long. Variety is tolerant to leaf miner and pod borer. It gives yield of 32-40qtl/acre.  

Kashi Uday: Early maturing variety, Released by Indian institute of vegetable research, Varanasi. 

Prepared field by ploughing along with 2-3 harrowing. Also carry out planking after ploughing. Field should be level to avoid waterlogging conditions in soil. Give pre-sowing irrigation before sowing of crop, it will help in good germination of crop.

To protect crop from soil born pest and disease, apply Trichoderma viride@10kg/acre mixed in well decomposed cowdung@25-30kg per acre, at time of last ploughing.

Time of sowing

It is cultivated in rabi season, complete cultivation in October - November month. In Maharashtra, it is sown in kharif season also, for that carry out sowing in June – July month. 

Spacing

Use row to row spacing of 30cm and plant to plant spacing of 5-8cm. 

Sowing Depth

Sow seeds at depth of 2-3cm.

Method of sowing

For sowing use drilling or dibbling method.

Seed Rate

If dibbling method is used, seed rate of 8-10kg is required for one acre land. In case of ploughing behind plough, seed rate of 20-30kg/acre is required.

Seed Treatment

Before sowing, treat seed with Captan or Thiram@3gm/kg of seed or Carbendazim@2.5gm/kg of seed. After chemical treatment, treat seeds with Rhizobium leguminosorum culture for better quality and yield. The culture material is emulisified in 10 percent sugar solution or jaggery solution. mix thoroughly the emulsified culture with seed and dry in shade. It will increase yield upto 8-10%.

Fertilizer Requirement (kg/acre)

Nutrient Requirement (kg/acre)

At time of sowing apply Nitrogen@8-12kg in form of Urea@20-30kg, Phosphorus@20-24kg in form of Superphosphate@125-150kg and Potash@20-24kg in form of MoP@35-40kg/acre. Drilled complete dose of Phosphorus, Potash and half of Nitrogen at time of sowing. 

Apply remaining dose of Nitrogen, when crop is at flowering stage.

After sowing it required one or two irrigation. Apply first irrigation during pre-flowering and second at pod formation stage. Heavy irrigation leads to the yellowing of plants and thus reducing the yield. 

Depending upon variety it required one or two weeding. First weeding is done either at 2-3 leaves stage or 3-4 weeks after sowing and second weeding is done before flowering. Using herbicides is the effective method of controlling weeds in peas cultivation. Mixed Fluchloraline 45EC@0.8Ltr/acre in 320-400Ltr of water and apply in field before seed sowing. Pendimethline@1.2qtl/acre and Basalin@1ltr/acre give good results in controlling the weeds. Apply herbicides within 48 hours of sowing.

Staking: Provide support of bamboo sticks when vines are about two months old.

• Pests and their control:

Pea leaf Miner: Larva of leaf miner create tunnel in leaves. Due infestation loss of 10-15% is observed.

If infestation is observed, take spray of Dimethoate 30EC@300 ml in 80-100 Ltr water per acre. If necessary repeat the spray after 15 days.

Pea Thrips and Aphid: They suck cell saps leads to yellowing of crop and thus decreases yield of crop.

If infestation is observed, take spray of Dimethoate 30EC@400 ml in 80-100 Ltr water per acre. If necessary repeat the spray after 15 days.

Pod borer: Pod borers are the most serious pests of pea. They bore flowers and pods, causing 10-90% losses, if left unprotected. 

When infestation is in initial stage, take spray of Carbaryl@900gm/100Ltr of water per acre. If necessary repeat the spray after 15 days. In case of severe infestation take spray of Chlorpyriphos@1 Ltr or Acephate@800 gm in 100 Ltrs of water per acre with manually operated knapsack sprayer.

• Diseases and their control:

Wilt: The roots turn black and the later rot away. Plant growth is stunted and discoloured, foliage turn yellow and downward curling of stipules and leaflets take place. The entire plant wilts and stem shrivels.

Control measures: Treat seeds with Thiram@3gm/Ltr water or Carbendazim@2gm/Ltr water of water before sowing and avoid early sowing in badly affected areas. Follow three year crop rotation. Drench the infected area with Carbendazim@5gm/Ltr water. Destroy the weed hosts such as Lathyrus vicia etc.

Rust: Yellowish, brown spherical pustules can be observed on stems, leaves, branch and pods.

Spray Mancozeb@25gm/Ltr of water or Indofil@400gm/100Ltr of water on disease appearance and repeat the spray at 10-15 days intervals.

Powdery Mildew: Patchy, White powdery growth appears on lower side of leaves, branches and pods. It parasitizes the plant using it as a food source. It can be developed at any stage of crop development. In severe infestation it causes defoliation.

If infestation is observed, take spray of Karathane 40EC@80 ml in 100 Ltr water per acre. Take three sprays of Karathane with interval of 10 days.

The green peas pods should be harvested at proper stage. Harvesting of peas may start as soon as peas started changing color from dark to green. Multiple pickings like, 4 to 5 pickling can be done within the 6 to 10days interval. Yield depends on the variety, soil fertility and management of the field.

Storage is done at low temperature to increase the availability of green pods for longer duration. packing is done in gunny bags, corrugated fiber board boxes, plastic containers and bamboo baskets.