Botanical Name- Vigna aconitifolia
Origin- Arid and semi -arid regions of India
Color- Yellow to Brown
Introduction:
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It is a creeping annual plant and it belongs to the Fabaceae Family.
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It is also known as Mat bean, Moth bean, Matki, and dew bean.
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The moth bean crop consists of pods, sprouts and protein rich seeds are mainly consumed in India.
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It acts as a pasture legume.
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It is rich in iron, calcium, manganese, zinc, potassium, magnesium and vitamin B9.
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The seeds of this crop contain 22-24% of protein.
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It is identified as a most remarkable food source in future because it is unaffected by drought and have a ability to encounter soil erosion.
Location:
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It is grown on an area of 13.19 lakh hectares most constricted to Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka with a production of 1,753 lakh tonnes with a productivity of 133 kg per hectare.
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It is a hot weather, resistant to drought legume.
Season:
- It is often planted at the end of the rainy season.
Climate:
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The ideal temperature for growing Moth bean is between 24°c-32°c.
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It can also permit up to 45°c during the day.
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For growing Moth Bean , 500-750mm of rainfall is required and it can also do well with 300mm of annual rainfall.
Soil Requirements:
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Other than in which it is normally grown it doesn’t need any soil conditions.
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In the Northern-western mid regions of India it can be strongly cultivated on well-drained sandy plains and poor dunes with poor organic matters and poor fertility rate.
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On plain lands and dunes it is cultivated as sole, mix and intercrop.
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To reduce the losses of soil moisture, the crops can immediately be sown after rain on light soil dunes.
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It has a wide pH range of 3.5-10.
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It grows well in sandy soil.
Land preparation:
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In western Rajasthan one plowing with mold board plough and a cross harrowing will serve the purpose in dry conditions.
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In wide spaced crop, Sweep Cultivation with a fertility seed drill which is developed at CAZRI can also be used as an alternative.
Sowing Time:
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The best sowing time is from May-June.
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Late sowing can be done in the end of June or by mid of July.
Seed rate & Sowing:
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For grain, the required seed rate is 10-15 kg/ha.
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For mixed crop, 4-5 kg of seed is required.
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For Fodder purpose, 20-25 kg/ha is required.
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Spacing should be done as 30-45cm x 10-20cm.
Varieties:
VARIETIES |
SEED YIELD(kg/ha) OVERALL PERFORMANC UNDER RAINFED AND IRRIGATED SITUATION |
CAZRI Moth-2 |
538 |
RMB-25 |
581 |
RMO-225 |
507 |
RMO-40 |
521 |
RMO-423 |
547 |
Irrigation:
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In India, It requires very less irrigation and it is one of the most drought resistant pulse crops.
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These plants are rugged and drought resistant.
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They will do well if they are irrigated timely and appropriately.
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During the flowering stage, it requires water and developing stages of pod will be very good for the plants.
Fertilizers:
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They do not require additional fertilizer.
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They are normally grown on abandoned and less managed soils which are naturally poor in physical properties defective in organic matter.
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The application of fully disintegrate FYM to the tune of 20-25 tonnes per hectare should be applied to improve organic carbon and physical properties of the soil.
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It will help in increasing the water holding capacity of the soil.
Harvesting & Storage:
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From planting to harvesting, Moth bean plants take around 75-90 days.
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For threshing, before harvesting the whole plant should be matured and dry.
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It is difficult to harvest Moth bean and it is the main drawback of this crop.
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Plants should be cut with a sickle, as Mowers cannot be used because of the shape and density of the branches.
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After being dried for maximum 1 week it is threshed and winnowed.
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This crop suffers from a loss of harvest, transport and storage.
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Because of these factors, about 8-20% or maybe more yield losses are expected.
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After the leaves gets dry and pods turn yellow, crop can be uprooted.
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For 3-5 days crops are stored in bundles and kept for sun drying.
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Then the crops are threshed by the use of bullocks, hand sticks or threshers.
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After threshing, the seeds again kept for drying in the open sky so that the moisture content be lowered to about 8-10%.
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By using cloth or gummy bags seeds are stored in airtight earthen pots.
Yield
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With improved technologies, it gives 6-8 quintal gran yield.
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12-25 quintal/ha green fodder yield can be achieved if it is cultivated for fodder.