Moth Bean Cultivation

Botanical Name- Vigna aconitifolia

Origin- Arid and semi -arid regions of India

Color- Yellow to Brown

Introduction:

• It is a creeping annual plant and it belongs to the Fabaceae Family.

• It is also known as Mat bean, Moth bean, Matki, and dew bean.

• The moth bean crop consists of pods, sprouts and protein rich seeds are mainly consumed in India.

• It acts as a pasture legume.

• It is rich in iron, calcium, manganese, zinc, potassium, magnesium and vitamin B9.

• The seeds of this crop contain 22-24% of protein.

• 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:

• 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.

• It is a hot weather, resistant to drought legume.

Season:

• It is often planted at the end of the rainy season.

Climate:

• The ideal temperature for growing Moth bean is between 24°c-32°c.

• It can also permit up to 45°c during the day.

• For growing Moth Bean , 500-750mm of rainfall is required and it can also do well with 300mm of annual rainfall.

Soil Requirements:

• Other than in which it is normally grown it doesn’t need any soil conditions.

• 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.

• On plain lands and dunes it is cultivated as sole, mix and intercrop.

• To reduce the losses of soil moisture, the crops can immediately be sown after rain on light soil dunes.

• It has a wide pH range of 3.5-10.

• It grows well in sandy soil.

Land preparation:

• In western Rajasthan one plowing with mold board plough and a cross harrowing will serve the purpose in dry conditions.

• 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:

• The best sowing time is from May-June.

• Late sowing can be done in the end of June or by mid of July.

Seed rate & Sowing:

• For grain, the required seed rate is 10-15 kg/ha.

• For mixed crop, 4-5 kg of seed is required.

• For Fodder purpose, 20-25 kg/ha is required.

• Spacing should be done as 30-45cm x 10-20cm.

Varieties:

Irrigation:

• In India, It requires very less irrigation and it is one of the most drought resistant pulse crops.

• These plants are rugged and drought resistant.

• They will do well if they are irrigated timely and appropriately.

• During the flowering stage, it requires water and developing stages of pod will be very good for the plants.

Fertilizers:

• They do not require additional fertilizer.

• They are normally grown on abandoned and less managed soils which are naturally poor in physical properties defective in organic matter.

• 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.

• It will help in increasing the water holding capacity of the soil.

Harvesting & Storage:

• From planting to harvesting, Moth bean plants take around 75-90 days.

• For threshing, before harvesting the whole plant should be matured and dry.

• It is difficult to harvest Moth bean and it is the main drawback of this crop.

• Plants should be cut with a sickle, as Mowers cannot be used because of the shape and density of the branches.

• After being dried for maximum 1 week it is threshed and winnowed.

• This crop suffers from a loss of harvest, transport and storage.

• Because of these factors, about 8-20% or maybe more yield losses are expected.

• After the leaves gets dry and pods turn yellow, crop can be uprooted.

• For 3-5 days crops are stored in bundles and kept for sun drying.

• Then the crops are threshed by the use of bullocks, hand sticks or threshers.

• After threshing, the seeds again kept for drying in the open sky so that the moisture content be lowered to about 8-10%.

• By using cloth or gummy bags seeds are stored in airtight earthen pots.

Yield

• With improved technologies, it gives 6-8 quintal gran yield.

• 12-25 quintal/ha green fodder yield can be achieved if it is cultivated for fodder.