Gram commonly known as chick pea or Bengal gram is the most important pulse crop of India. It is used for human consumption as well as for feeding to animals. Fresh green leaves are used as vegetable while straw of chickpea is an excellent fodder for cattle. The grains are also used as vegetable. India, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Burma and Turkey are main gram growing countries. India ranks first in the world in respect of production and acreage followed by Pakistan. In India, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra and Punjab are major gram producing states.
 
On basis of size, color and shape of seeds, gram is divided into two group 1) Desi or brown gram 2) Kabuli or white gram. Yield potential of kabuli is poor as compared to Desi gram.
 

It can be grown on wide variety of soils. Sandy loam to clay loam is considered to be most suitable soil for gram cultivation. Soil having water logging problems are not suitable for cultivation. Saline alkaline soils are not suitable. pH in the range of 5.5 to 7 is ideal for sowing.

Avoid sowing of same crop continuously in field. Follow proper crop rotation. Crop rotation with cereals will help in controlling soil borne disease. Common rotation are Kharif fallow-chick pea, Kharif fallow- gram + wheat/barley/raya, Chari-gram, bajra-gram, rice/maize-gram.

Pusa 1003: It is medium maturing variety which matures in 120-125 days and is medium spreading. The variety is resistant to wilt disease. It has round seeds, shiny, white and big sized (1000 seeds have an average weight of 250gm).

Pusa 1053: It is medium maturing variety which matures in 120-125 days. The variety is suitable for growing both in irrigated and rainfed areas. It is resistant t to wilt disease. It has big seeds having weight of 300gm for 1000 seeds.

Pant G 186: It is an early maturing variety which matures in 120-130 days. The variety is suitable for late sowing. It has brown color seeds which are medium in size. The 1000 seeds have an average weight of 150gm. The variety is resistant to wilt and botrytis fungus rot.

K 5: It is late maturing variety which matures in 170-75 days. The variety is medium spreading. Round seeds, shiny and big (1000 seeds have weight of 372gm).

G 24: The variety is suitable for growing in rainfed areas. Round seeds, shiny and big (1000 seeds have weight of 372gm).

C 235: it is an early maturing and much spreading variety. It has medium sized grains. The variety is resistant to early blight. The variety is suitable for irrigated and rainier areas.

C 104: It is suitable for sowing in irrigated areas. The seeds of this variety are double in size than Desi Chana and are white in color.

L 14: It is also the variety of Kabuli chane but it’s mature early than C 194 and also gives more yield. It has big sized seeds. The plant reached upto the height of 70cm. stem is thick and has big sized leaves.

Pant G 114: It is medium maturing variety which is released in Pantnagar it has medium spreading plant and has green leaves which bears pink color flowers. The 1000 seeds have an approximately 135gm.

Pusa 209: It is early maturing variety. It is suitable for sowing in irrigated and rainfed areas. The variety is resistant to wilt and early blight disease. The 1000 seeds have weight of 130gm.

Pusa 256: The variety matures in 140-150 days. The 1000 seeds have weight of 130gm. The variety is resistant to early blight.

Pusa 267: This is kabuli gram variety. The variety matures in 155-160 days. Plant is medium spreading. Seeds have light yellow-white in color and have medium sized seeds. The variety is resistant to wilt.

H 208: The variety is resistant to 150 days. The 1000 seeds have an average weight of 110gm.

L 550: Kabuli gram variety. It has white seeds and has big sized grains (1000 seeds have an average weight of 220gm). It gives average yield of 6 qtl/acre.

Avrodhi: Desi gram variety. The variety matures in 150 days. It has big sized grains i.e. 1000 seeds have an average weight of 210gm. The variety is resistant to wilt.

Uday: Desi variety. It is medium maturing variety. It has medium sized grains i.e. 1000 seeds have an average weight of 210gm. This variety is suitable for late sowing.

Very fine and compact seedbed is not good for chick pea, it required rough seed bed. If it is cultivated as mix crop the land should be plough to fine tilth. If chick pea crop is taken after a kharif fellow carry out one deep ploughing during the monsoon as it will help to conserved rain water. Before sowing plough the land only once. If soil appears to be deficient in moisture run a roller about a week before sowing.

Time of sowing
Optimum time for sowing is from 20th to 30th October.

Spacing:
For sowing, use row spacing of 30-45cm and plant to plant spacing of 5 cm. 
 
Sowing Depth
Dug pit of “06x0.6x0.6 m” and for poor soil use pit size of “1mx1mx1m” and expose to sun for some days. Then fill the pit with well decomposed cow dung, superphosphate and soil. Plant seedlings in middle of pit.

Method of sowing
Direct sowing or transplanting method.

Seed Rate
For Desi varieties, use seed rate of 28-32kg/acre and for late sowing varieties use seed rate of 41-52kg/acre. 

Seed Treatment
 Mix Trichoderma@2 kg/acre + decomposed cow dung@50 kg then cover it with jute bags for 24-72 hrs. Then spray this on moist soil before sowing to control soil borne disease. To prevent seeds from soil borne disease they should be treated with fungicide Carbendazim 12% + Mancozeb 63%WP(Saaf)@2 gram/kg of seed before sowing. In termite affected soil, treat seeds with Chlorpyrifos 20EC@10 ml/kg of seed before sowing.
Inoculate seed with Mesorhizobium, it will increase productivity of gram and increased yield by 7%. For that first moisten seed with water then apply single packet of Meso-rhizobium on seeds. After inoculation dry seeds in shed.

Fertilizer Requirement (kg/acre)

Nutrient Requirement (kg/acre)

At time of sowing, apply Nitrogen@2-3 kg in form of Urea@6-8 kg per acre, Phosphorus @2kg in form of SSP@16 kg/acre and potash@7-9 kg/acre in the form of MOP@12-16 kg per acre. Apply fertilizer at depth of 2-3 cm below seeds.

Bathuva, Senji, Krushn-nil, Hirankhuri, Chatari-Matari, Gajari, Akara-Akari, Jangli gajar etc are main weeds observed in gram field.
 
To keep check on weeds, take first hand weeding or with wheel hoe 25-30 days after sowing and second if needed after 60 days of sowing.

Mixed Fluchloralin 45EC@800 ml/acre in 100-150 Ltr of water and apply in field before seed sowing. Simultaneously for effective weed control, pre-emergence application of Pendimethalin @ 1 litre/150 litre water on third day after sowing for one acre land. It will help for controlling annual weeds. In case of less infestation, hand weeding or inter culture with the help of hoe is always better than herbicides because inter culture operations improve aeration in the soil.
 

Mainly Bengal gram farming is done in rainfed areas. If water is available, then first irrigation is done after 40-45 days after sowing after flowering and next irrigation is given after pod development. If only single irrigation is available, then do it after 60 days of sowing.

• Pest and their control:

Termite: It feeds on root or near root zone of crop. Affected plant show symptom of drying up. It can be easily uprooted. It can affect at seedling stage and also near maturity.
 
To protect seeds from termite, treat seeds with Chlorpyriphos 20 EC@10 ml/kg of seed. If infestation occurs in standing crop, drench with Imidacloprid@4 ml/10 litre of water or Chlorpyriphos@5 ml/10 Ltr of water.

Cut worm: Caterpillar remain hide in soil at depth of 2-4 inch. It cut at base of plant, branches or stem. Eggs are laid down in soil. Larva is dark brown with red head.
 
Adopt crop rotation. Use only well decomposed cow dung. At early stage pick caterpillar by hand and then destroyed them. Avoid plantation of Tomato and Okra near gram field. In low infestation spray Quinalphos 25EC@400 ml/200-240 liters water per acre. In case of severe infestation, Spray with Profenophos 50EC@600 ml/acre in 200-240 liters of water.

Gram pod borer: This is the most serious pest of chickpea and causes damage up to 75% reduction in yield. It feed on leaves causes skeletonization of leaves also feeds on flower and green pods. On pods they make circular holes and feed on grains.
 
Install Pheromone traps for Helicoverpa armigera@5/acre. In case of low infestation, handpicked grown up larvae. At early stage, use HNPV or Neem extract@50 gram/litre of water. Use of chemicals is necessary after ETL level. (ETL: 2 early instar larvae/plant or 5-8 eggs/plant).

Spray Deltamethrin 1%+Triazophos35%@25 ml/10 litre water when crop is at 50% flowering stage. Spray Emamectin Benzoate 5%G@3 gram/10 litre of water 15 days after first spray of Deltamethrin+Triazophos.

In case of severe infestation spray Emamectin Benzoate 5%SG@7-8 gram/15 litre or 20%WG Flubendiamide@8 gram/15 litre water.
 

• Disease and their control:

Blight: Dark brown spot with dot like bodies developed on stem, branches, leaflet and pods. In case of excessive rain whole plant get severely affected with blight.
 
For cultivation, use resistant varieties. Before sowing, carryout seed treatment with fungicide. On incidence of disease, spray with Indofil M-45 or Captan @ 360 gram/100 litre of water per acre. If necessary repeat the spray at interval of 15 days.

Gray Mold: Small water soaked spots are observed on leaflets. Spots on infected leaves become dark brown. In severe infestation, brown necrotic spots appear on twigs, petioles, leaves and flowers of the plant on attaining full vegetative growth. The affected stem finally breaks and the plant dies.
 
Before sowing, carry out seed treatment. If infestation is observed, spray crop with Carbendazim@2 gram/litre of water.

Rust: This disease is more severe in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. Small, round to oval, light or dark brown pustules are formed on the under surface of the leaves. In later stage, pustules get black and affected leaves get defoliate.
 
Use rust resistant varieties for cultivation. If symptoms are observed, spray the crop with Mancozeb 75WP@2 gram/litre of water, interval of 10 days takes two more sprays.

Wilt: This disease causes considerable loss in yield. In can affect at the seedling stage as well as in an advanced stage of plant growth. Initially, affected plant show dropping of petioles and gives dull green color. Afterwards all leaves turn yellow and become straw colored.
 
Grow resistant varieties. In primary stage of wilt, to control mix 1 kg of Trichoderma in 200 kg well decomposed cow dung and keep it for 3 days, then apply it in wilt affected area. If wilt is observed in fields, spray 300 ml Propiconazole with 200 litre of water per acre.
 

When plant gets dry and leaves turn reddish brown and start shedding, plant is ready to harvest. Cut the plant with sickle. Sundry the harvested crop for five to six days. After proper drying, carry out threshing by beating the plants with sticks or by trampling under the feet of bullocks.

Grains of harvested crop must be well dried before storage. And take care to avoid the pulse beetle infestation in storage.