Pulse · Fabaceae (pea family)
Matar · मटर · Pisum sativum
Sweet green pods for the market or dry grain for dal.
Pea is grown in two ways in North India: garden pea, picked as green pods for the vegetable market from December to February, and field pea, left to dry for grain. Both fix nitrogen and suit cool winters.
Pod filling — green pod picking · roots shown through the soil
At a glance
A cool-weather crop. Frost at flowering and pod stage damages flowers and pods; heat above 30 °C at flowering reduces pod set.
Sowing time
10 Oct – 15 Nov
Harvest
15 Dec – 10 Apr
75–140 days from sowing
Temperature
10–24 °C to grow
18–24 °C at sowing
Soil
Well-drained loam to clay loam
pH 6–7.5
Seed rate
30–51 kg/acre
75–125 kg/ha
Spacing
30 × 7 cm
4–5 cm deep
Irrigations
2–4
2 critical stages
Yield
32–49 q/acre
80–120 q/ha
Season
Avoid waterlogged, saline and very acidic soils. Good drainage prevents root rot.
Seed to harvest
Scroll through the season. The plant in the glass tank grows to each stage — roots and all — and every card says what the crop is doing and what you should do in the field that week.
Stage 1 of 7
Sowing
Day 0–5
Round seeds absorb moisture and swell.
Your job · Sow treated, Rhizobium-coated seed 4–5 cm deep in moist soil.
Root goes down and a hooked shoot comes up; seed halves stay underground.
Your job · Avoid irrigation until seedlings emerge.
First leaves with broad leaflets and stipules open; nodules start.
Your job · First hoeing at 20–25 days.
Stems lengthen and tendrils grab onto neighbours or supports.
Your job · Stake tall varieties. Second hoeing at 40–45 days.
White flowers open in pairs at the leaf joints.
Your job · Irrigate if dry; watch for powdery mildew and protect from frost.
Pods lengthen and seeds fill out; green pods are sweet and tender.
Your job · Pick green pods every 7–10 days in the cool morning. Irrigate at pod filling.
For grain, pods dry, turn straw-coloured and seeds harden.
Your job · Harvest the grain crop when most pods are dry.
The seed
Use certified seed of a variety bred for your region, at the right rate, and treat it before sowing.
One seed
≈ 7 mm
Seed rate
30–51 kg/acre
75–125 kg/ha
1000-seed weight
—
Field & sowing
Line sowing with a drill or by hand behind the plough
Layout
Flat beds
Row to row
30 cm
Plant to plant
7 cm
Depth
4–5 cm
Feeding the crop
These are the standard doses for a medium-fertility field. Your Soil Health Card can raise or lower them — test first, then feed.
Nutrient dose
Plus 15 t/ha (6.1 t/acre) of well-rotted farmyard manure or compost.
For 1 acre of Pea
What to buy
Urea
1.3
kg
DAP
1
bag · 53 kg
MOP
0.5
bags · 27 kg
Nutrients in it: N 10 kg · P₂O₅ 24 kg · K₂O 16 kg
Also add farmyard manure or compost: 6.1 t
Not yet checked against a package of practices. Confirm the dose with your KVK before you buy.
Urea has 46 % N; DAP 18 % N and 46 % P₂O₅; MOP 60 % K₂O. Urea comes in 45 kg bags, DAP and MOP in 50 kg.
Water
A crop forgives a late irrigation at some stages and punishes it at others. These are the days that decide yield.
Protection
Walk the field every week. Most problems are cheap to stop early and expensive to fix late. For any spray, follow the label dose and check with your KVK.
Signs · White powdery coating on leaves, stems and pods from January, especially in late-sown crops.
Manage · Sow on time and grow resistant varieties. Spray wettable sulphur or another recommended fungicide at first sign, as per label / your KVK.
Signs · Yellow-orange powdery spots on leaves and stems late in the season.
Manage · Grow tolerant varieties; spray a recommended fungicide at first sign, as per label / your KVK.
Signs · In early-sown crops, young plants turn yellow and wilt; maggots tunnel inside the stem.
Manage · Avoid very early sowing; use a recommended insecticide at sowing in problem areas, as per label / your KVK.
Signs · White zigzag tunnels on leaves; heavy attack dries leaves.
Manage · Remove badly mined lower leaves; spray a recommended insecticide only if attack is severe, as per label / your KVK.
Signs · Caterpillars bore into pods and eat seeds.
Manage · Pheromone traps and regular picking of green pods; spray a recommended insecticide with a short waiting period only if needed, as per label / your KVK.
Signs · Plants turn yellow and wilt; roots rot, especially in early sowing in warm, wet soil.
Manage · Seed treatment, timely sowing, good drainage and crop rotation.
Signs · Flowers and young pods turn black and drop after frosty nights.
Manage · Give a light irrigation when frost is forecast; smoke along field edges at night helps.
Common · Bathua, senji, krishna neel, chatri matri
Harvest
A good crop gives
32–49q/acre
80–120 quintal per hectare
Green pods. A dry-grain crop gives about 18–25 q/ha.