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.

Uttar Pradesh has first rank in area and production. Near about 6.13 lakh area is under lentil cultivation (2004-05). Its productivity can be increased by resolving major constraint like fusarium wilt, rust and drought conditions. In eastern UP, lentil is grown along with standing rice crop.
 

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.

IPL 81: It is suitable for Bundelkhand area. Ready to harvest in 120-125 days. Grains are small. Gives average yield of 7-8 qtl/acre.

Narendra Masur: It is suitable to grow throughout the UP. Ready to harvest in 135-140 days. Grains are medium size. Gives average yield of 8-9 qtl/acre.

DPL 62: It is suitable to grow throughout the UP. Ready to harvest in 130-135 days. Grains are medium size. Gives average yield of 7-8 qtl/acre.  

Pant Masur 5: It is suitable to grow throughout the UP. Ready to harvest in 135-140 days. Grains are medium size. Gives average yield of 8-9 qtl/acre.

Pant Lentil 4: It is suitable for plain areas of UP. Ready to harvest in 140-145 days. Grains are small. Gives average yield of 6.4 qtl/acre.

DPL 15: It is suitable to grow in plain areas of UP. Ready to harvest in 130-140 days. Gives average yield of 7-8 qtl/acre.

L 4076: It is suitable for whole UP. Ready to harvest in 135-140 days. Grains are of medium size. Gives average yield of 7-8 qtl/acre.
 
Pusa Vaibhav: It is suitable to grow in plain areas of UP. Ready to harvest in 135-140 days. Gives average yield of 7-9 qtl/acre.

K 75: It is suitable to grow throughout the UP. Ready to harvest in 120-125 days. Grains are big size. Gives average yield of 5.6-6.4 qtl/acre.

HUL 57: It is suitable to grow throughout the UP. Ready to harvest in 125-135 days. Grains are small size. Gives average yield of 7-9 qtl/acre.

KLS 218: It is suitable to grow throughout the UP. Ready to harvest in 125-130 days. Grains are medium size. Gives average yield of 7-8 qtl/acre.

IPL 406: It is suitable to grow in the western part of UP. Ready to harvest in 125-130 days. Grains are big. Gives average yield of 6.8 qtl/acre.

Shekhar 2: It is suitable to grow throughout the UP. Ready to harvest in 125-130 days. Gives average yield of 8-9 qtl/acre.

Shekhar 3: It is suitable to grow throughout the UP. Ready to harvest in 125-130 days. Gives average yield of 8-9 qtl/acre.

DDR 27, Prakash, Swati, HUPD 15: High yielding short duration variety. Resistant to powdery mildew.

Other state varieties:

Pant Lentil 8 (PL 063): Released in 2010. It gives an average yield of 5 quintal/acre. The variety gets mature in 135 days. The variety is moderately resistant to rust and wilt, and is also resistant to pod borer.

Haryana Masur 1: It is suitable for growing in throughout the Haryana. It is resistant to pest and disease. The crop is ready to harvest in 140 days. Gives average yield of 6.5-7 quintal/acre.

Sapna: Medium duration variety suitable for irrigated areas of Haryana. The crop is ready to harvest in 140 days. Grains are bold, flat, grey color with dark black spots on it. It is resistant to pod borer. Gives average yield of 6 quintal/acre.

Garima: It is suitable for irrigated as well as unirrigated areas. Leaves are broad which are having dark green color. Grains are bigger compared to SAPNA variety. It is ready to harvest in 135 days. Gives average yield of 6 quintal/acre.

Bombay 18: Ready to harvest in 130-140 days. Gives average yield of 4-4.8 quintal/acre.

DPL 15:  Ready to harvest in 130-140 days. Gives average yield of 5.6-6.4 quintal/acre.

Pant Lentil 7: Ready to harvest in 147 days. Gives average yield of 6 quintal/acre.
 

In case of light soils, less tillage or soil manipulation is required to prepare seed-bed. One deep ploughing followed by 3-4 cross harrowing’s 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
For timely sowing, the best time is from October to middle November. For late sowing, December month is optimum time.

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 12-15 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)

Apply, Nitrogen@9 kg in form of Urea@20 kg, Phosphorus@24 kg in form of SSP@150 kg, Potash@9 kg in form of MOP@15kg per acre and sulphur@8kg/acre. Add full dose of phosphorus, potash and half dose of nitrogen at the time of sowing. Remaining dose of nitrogen is added after 4-5 weeks of sowing.

In case of Zinc deficiency, apply Zinc Sulphate@4-6 kg/acre.
 

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.