LENTIL (MASUR)

It is one of the most important protein rich pulse crop. It is mostly eaten as dal by splitting into 2 cotyledons, deep orange red or orange yellow in color. Whole grain is also used in various dishes. Lentils also provides source of starch for textiles and printing. It is mixed with wheat flour in bread and cake production. India is the highest producer of lentil in the world.

Lentil can be grown on all type of soil. Saline, Alkaline or waterlogged soils should be avoided. Soil should be friable and weed free so that seed could be placed at uniform depth.

L 9-12: The variety is resistant to brown pest. It has medium sized seeds which has brown color peel having black spots on it. It is a good yield giving variety.

Type-36: It is medium maturing variety which matures in 130-140 days. Flowers are purple in color and seeds are pink-brown in color. The weight of 1000 seeds is approximately 17gm. It gives an average yield of 8qtl/acre.

Type 6: The variety is suitable for growing in flood affected areas. It can be grown along with rice crop.

Pant L 234: The variety is developed by Pantnagar. It is medium maturing variety. It has medium spreading plant, deep green in color and big sized seeds (1000seeds have 23gm weight) which are mottled. The variety is resistant to wilting.

Pant L 406: Released by Pantnagar, medium maturing variety and medium spreading. It has pink color seeds having weight of 17gm for 1000 seeds. The variety is resistant to rust and wilt. The variety is suitable for timely and late sowing.
 
Pant Masur 4: the variety taken 130-135 days for its maturity. It is medium spreading plant and has small seeds having 17gm weight of 1000 seeds and seeds are pink in color. The variety is resistant to rust and wilt and is suitable for timely sowing.

Pant Masur 5: It is a mid-maturing variety. It has medium spreading plant and has big sized seeds (1000gm seeds have approximately 28gm weight). The variety is resistant to brown rust and wilt disease. It is suitable for timely sowing.

Malika: The variety matures in 120-125 days. The variety is medium spreading. It has pink color and has big sized seeds (1000 seeds weight is approximately 26gm). The variety is resistant to rust.

L 4076: The variety matures in 135-140 days. It has medium spreading plant. It has pink seeds and is big sized (1000 seeds weight is 28gm). The variety is resistant to rust. It is suitable for sowing both in rainfed and irrigated areas.  
 

One deep ploughing followed by 3-4 cross harrowing should be given in case of heavy soils. 2-3 ploughings are sufficient for proper pulverization of land. Leveling of field should also be done for proper distribution of water. Proper moisture should be present in the field at the time of sowing seeds.

Time of sowing
Lentil sowing is done from October to December month. The perfect time of lentil sowing is November month.

Spacing
Line spacing of 25-30 cm is used.
 
Sowing Depth
Sow seeds at depth of 3-4 cm.

Method of sowing
For Sowing use pora method or seed cum fertilizer drill. Seed can also be sown by broadcasting it manually.
 

Seed Rate
Seed rate of 10-12 kg/acre is optimum. For late sowing crop, use bold seeded varieties and use seed rate of 16-20 kg/acre.

Seed Treatment
Seed should be treated with Captan or Thiram @3 gm/kg of seed before sowing. After chemical treatment, treat seeds with Rhizobium culture@200 gm for 10 kg of seeds. Seed treatment with rhizobium culture is necessary when lentil is taken for the first time. 

Fertilizer Requirement (kg/acre)

Nutrient Requirement (kg/acre)

Application of Urea@8-12kg/acre and SSP@25-31 kg/acre is added at the time of land preparation.  
 

Bathuva, Senji, Krushn-nil, Hirankhuri, Chatari-Matari, Gajari, Akara-Akari, Jangli gajar etc are main weeds observed in field.

For first two month, proper weed control is necessary. Take weeding operation at 30 and 60 days after sowing. Pre-emergence application of Pendimethalin@1ltr/acre helps in effective weed control.

Lentil is mainly grown as a rainfed crop. It requires 2-3 irrigations in case of irrigated conditions depending upon the climatic conditions. First irrigation should be provided 4 weeks after sowing and second at flowering stage. Pod formation and flower initiation are critical stages of water requirement.

• Pest and their control:
  

Pod borer: It mainly fed upon green plant leaves, flowers, pod-grains. It is a serious pest of lentil which cause excessive yield loss. It can be controlled by spraying of 900 gm Hexavin 50WP in 90 litres of water per acre at the time of flowering. Spray should be repeated after 3 weeks if necessary.

• Disease and their control:
  

Rust: Yellowish white pustules develop on stem branches, pods and leaves of plants. They may appear singly or in groups. Small pustules may grow into large postules slowly. In severe cases, affected plants may dry up and give burnt appearance. Growing of tolerant varieties can help to prevent rust. To control spray of 400 gm M-45 @200 ltr water per acre.
 

Blight: Dark brown spots are formed on stem, leaves and pods. These lesions slowly elongates. Sometimes spots are formed in the form of concentric rings. Use of Disease free seed, destroy diseased plant debris after harvest to reduce the chances of blight. To control spray of 400 gm Bavistin @200 ltr water per acre.
 

Harvesting should be done at proper time when plant dry up and pods mature. Over-ripening of pods should be avoided as produce may be lost due to shattering. Plants should be beaten by sticks to thresh. After threshing, seed is cleaned and dried up in the sunshine. Moisture content should be 12% at the time of storage.