Lentil General Curiosity About

Total area of lentil in India is 14.90 Lakh Hectare, average production is 16.10 Lakh ton and productivity is 1006 Kg/ hectare.

Lentil is mainly grown in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Assam and Rajasthan.

• Small seeded varieties: Pant Masoor 406, Pant Masoor 639, Pant Masoor 4, Pusa Vaibhav, HUL 57, Pant Masoor 8,IPL 220, Shekhar 5 (KLS 122), KLS 218, Pant Masoor 9, and Krish (KLS 09-3)
• Bold seeded varieties: Pant Masoor 5, Sapna, Priya(DPL 15), Sheri (DPL 62), Noori (IPL 81), Jawahar Masoor 3, K 75 (Mallika), Angoori (IPL 406), Jawahar Masoor 1, IPL 36, IPL 526, IPL 315, IPL 321, Pusa Ageti Masoor 1, RKL 607-1, Kota Masoor 1, Shekhar- 4 (KLB 345), RKL 14-20, Kota Masoor 2, L 4727, RVL 11-6, RVL 31, Pant Masoor 7, Pant Masoor 6

Jawahar Masoor 3, DPL 62, Jawahar Masoor 1, IPA 321, IPA 316, Kota masoor 1, Kota Masoor 2 are some wilt resistant varieties of lentil.

For small seeded lentil varieties 12-16 Kg seed per acre is enough and 20- 22Kg per acre seed is recommended for bold seeded lentil varieties.

One packet (250 gm.) of rhizobium culture is enough for the treatment of 10 Kg seeds.A solution of 50 gm. jaggery or sugar should be prepared with half a litre of water. This solution should be boiled and then cooled. Add rhizobium culture in the solution after cooling and mix it well. Add this mixture in a bucket with 10 Kg of seeds so well that a proper layer may be coated on the surface of seeds. The treated seed should be dried in shadow for 8-10 hours. Drying of seeds in sunlight should be avoided. Seed treatment is preferred in the evening; this will enable sowing in the next morning.

Trichoderma is a fungus present in the soil that kills or inactivates the bacteria of seed-borne wilt disease. Biocontrol can be made effective by the treatment of seeds with Carboxin and Trichoderma harzanium before sowing.

• First fortnight of October in rainfed areas and second fortnight of November in irrigated areas is the right time for sowing lentil.
• Line to line distance should be kept to 20- 25 cm and plant to plant distance should be maintained between 5-8 cm.

Optimum production of fieldpea can be obtained by applying 15- 20 Kg of nitrogen, 30- 40 Kg of Phosphorus, 20 Kg of Potash, and 20 Kg of Sulphur per hectare. The entire quantity of the fertilizers should be applied at the time of sowing.

Weed control in the crop of lentil could be done by spraying the solution of 1- 1.5 Litre Pendimethalin 30 EC with water or 4-5 litre of stamp just after sowing.

In irrigated regions, light irrigation is required after 45- 60 days of sowing. Irrigation is not required if it rains.

Wilt and rust cause significant losses in the lentil crop.

• Use of disease resistant varieties for sowing is the best way of disease management. Before sowing seeds should be treated with 2 gm of thirum or carbendazim at the rate of per Kg. Seed. At advanced stage of rust infestation, a solution of 0.25% Mancozeb or 0.3 % of Sulphur may be sprayed on the crop. Seeds should be treated with 1 gm Vitavex and 4 gm Trichoderma fungus for the prevention of wilt disease
• Crop rotation should be followed in the fields with severe wilt infestation
• Linseed cropping for one year could be beneficial in the infested fields.
• Deep ploughing is essential in summer.

Insect pests are less seen in the lentil crop in comparison to others. Sometimes aphids attack the lentil crops in the month of January, if the temperature is higher than the normal conditions, especially in North and Central India. Aphids damage the crop by sucking the juices of leaves, stems, and pods. For the control of aphids, a solution may be prepared of Dimethoate 0.03% or Metasystox 0.02% or Imidacloprid 0.07% in 500- 600 Litres of water. This solution is enough for the spray of a one-hectare field.

Seeds of improved varieties of lentil can be obtained from –

1. Sale counters  of U P Seed Development Corporation
2. Different Agricultural Universities
3. Indian Institute of Pulses Research, Kanpur
4. Krishi Vigyan Kendras
5. Sale counters of  National Seed Corporation
6. Sale Counters of Agriculture Department at Block Level
7. Cooperative Committees.