Skip to main content

Growing Green Gram

Image
By

Growing green gram (moong dal) is very popular in India and some other South Asian countries. And it is one of the main pulse crop of India. It is very nutritious and a great source of protein along with fiber and iron. It is also a great source of calcium, phosphorous and many vitamins.

And the moong dal/green gram can become a very important source of protein for people in some regions where animal protein is scarce. The green gram (Vigna radiata) is actually a plant species in the legume family. It is an annual vine with yellow flowers and fuzzy brown pods.

The pods are about 5 inches long, containing 10-15 seeds and varying in color from yellowish-brown to black. And the seeds also vary in coloration from yellow, brown, mottled black or even green.

The green gram is most commonly used as an ingredient in both savory and sweet dishes. Bangladesh, India, China, Korea, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, South Asia and Southeast Asia are the top countries and regions where green gram is mainly cultivated.

Origins And Other Names of Green Gram

According to Wikipedia, the green gram is thought to have originated from the Indian subcontinent where it was domesticated as early as 1500 BC.

Carbonized green gram have been discovered in many archeological sites in India. Areas with early finds include the eastern zone of the Harappan civilization in Punjab and Haryana, where finds date back to about 4,500 years, and South India in the modern state of Karnataka where finds date back more than 4,000 years.

The cultivated green grams were introduced to southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Austronesia, the Americas and the West Indies.

The green gram is also known by many other different names in different parts of the world. It is also called mung bean, maash, moong, golden gram, look dou, lutou, moyashimamae, oorud, chop suey bean etc. In India, the green gram is also known by many different names in different local languages. It is called Moong in Hindi, Mogu or Mogu dail in Assamese, Mug or Mug dal in Bengali, Mag in Gujarati, Pacchesaru or Hesaru Bele in Kannada, Cherupayar in Malayalam, Mug in Marathi, Muga or Muga dali in Oriya, Moongi in Punjabi, Mung Eta in Sinhala, Pachai Payaru in Tamil, Pesara pappu in Telugu, Padengi in Tulu and Moog in Konkani.

Uses And Nutrition

The green gram is commonly used in cuisines across Asia. It is used in many different ways (from whole beans to paste). It is used in many delicious dishes not only in India, but also in some other Asian countries. The green gram is very nutritious. It is an excellent source of protein, carbohydrate, vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber.

Health Benefits of Green Gram

The green gram is nutritious and it is very good for human health. It has many health benefits and considered as an ideal diet where source of animal protein is limited. Some notable health benefits of green gram are listed below.

  • The green gram is an excellent source of protein, carbohydrate and minerals.
  • Regular consumption of green gram can help you to loose weight.
  • It is a very good source of dietary fiber and iron.
  • The green gram helps to control blood pressure.

How to Start Growing Green Gram?

Growing green gram is very easy. And you can start growing green gram, even if you are a beginner. Here we are describing more information about growing green gram from planting, caring to harvesting.

Step 1: Select A Location

First of all, you have to select a good location for growing green gram. The green grams can be grown almost everywhere, but they grow very well in well-drained soil with the availability of full sun.

Step 2: Prepare The Soil

The green gram plants can be grown on a wide range of soil types. But well-drained, loamy to sandy-loam soils is considered good for growing green gram. Saline and water logged soils are not good for green gram cultivation.

2-3 ploughing is required for preparing the soil and bringing the soil to fine tilth. Carry out planking after each ploughing. Try to remove the weeds from the field while preparing the soil.

Apply all the fertilizers while ploughing or tilling the soil. For commercial production, apply about 10-12 kg urea and 80-100 kg super phosphate per acre while preparing the soil.

Step 3: Climate Requirements for Growing Green Gram

Warm and humid climate with temperature range of 25 °C and 35 °C, with moderate rains of 850 to 1000 mm is considered best condition for growing green gram.

green gram, how to grow green gram, green gram cultivation, green gram farming, growing green gram, growing green gram commercially, how to start growing green gram, guide for growing green gram, tips for growing green gram

Step 4: Best Time For Growing Green Gram

The green gram is a summer season crop. It can be cultivated as Kharif as well as summer crop. The first fortnight of July is the optimum time for Kharif sowing. And from March to April is optimum time for summer sowing.

Step 5: Select A Variety

There are many green gram varieties available. Some of the popular varieties in India are PS 16, Mohini, Pusa Baisakhi, Jawahar 45, ML 1, TMB 37, SML 668, PAU 911, ML 818, ML 2056, RUM-1, HUM-12, BM-4, PDM-54, JM-72, PDM-11 and K-851.

You can choose any variety depending on it's availability in your area. You can also consult with some of your local farmers or agriculture specialist for having good recommendation.

Step 6: Purchase Seeds

After selecting a variety, you have to purchase seeds from any of your nearest market. The green gram is very common in India, and the seeds should be easily available in your area. You can also consider ordering the seeds online.

Step 7: Seeds Per Acre

You will need about 12-15 kg seeds per acre for summer season crop. And for Kharif season crop, you will need about 8-9 kg seeds per acre.

Step 8: Planting

You can either scatter the seeds throughout the field, or plant in rows. For planting in rows, mark several rows in the soil after leveling it. Space the rows to about 10-12 inches apart. The sow seeds to about 4 inches apart for Kharif crop, and about 3 inches apart for summer season crop. Sow the seeds to about 1 inch deep. Drill/pora/kera methods can be used for sowing the seeds.

Treat the seeds with fungicide or insecticide before sowing them into the field. You can treat the seeds with Captan or Thiram at the rate of 3 grams per kg seeds. Light watering after sowing the seeds will help to germinate the seeds faster.

Step 8: Caring

The green gram plants generally require less care and management. But, taking additional care will be very good for growing green gram plants. Here we are describing more information about the caring steps for growing green gram.

Fertilizing: In most cases, you don't have to apply additional fertilizers for growing green gram.

Watering: The green gram is mainly grown as a Kharif crop. Depending upon the climatic conditions, water the plants if needed. 3-4 irrigation is required for summer season crop, depending upon soil type and climatic conditions. Excessive watering can damage the yield. So stop watering 55 days after sowing the seeds.

Controlling Weeds: Weeds consume nutrients from the soil. So you should always try to keep your crop field free from weeds. You should remove the weeds from the soil during ploughing for the first time. And control additional weeds by hoeing if you notice any. First hoeing should be done 4 weeks after sowing the seeds, and second hoeing 2 weeks later after first hoeing.

Step 9: Learn About Pests And Diseases

Stem fly is the main pest found in this crop. Stem flies affect the plant at the early stages, leading to drying and withering. Yellow mosaic disease can be observed during the growth stages of this crop. However, you should always keep good contact with any expert or agriculture specialist. And ask him/her for help if you notice any pests or diseases in your crop field, and take necessary steps as soon as you can.

Step 10: Harvesting

You should start harvesting when about 85 percent of the pods are fully matured. Try to to avoid bad conditions for harvesting. And you should not wait for getting all the pods riped. Avoid over-ripening of the pods, because you will loose many of the seeds if the pods are too much riped.

You can either cut the entire plant or the stalks which are bearing the seeds. And bring them home after cutting, and keep in open space for sun drying. And after drying, you should thresh either biting by stick or by using a machine. Clean and sun dry the seeds after threshing.

Step 11: Yield

Exact yield can vary and actually depends on the seed and farm management practices. But on an average, you can expect between 1000 to 1400 kg per hectare.

Step 12: Marketing

Marketing green gram is very easy and simple. You can easily sell your products in the local market. Although, we recommend determining your marketing strategies before starting this business.

Hope this guide has helped you to learn more about growing green gram. Good luck and may God bless you!

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Murray Grey Cattle

By
The Murray Grey cattle are a breed of beef cattle from Australia. It was developed in the upper Murray River valley on the New South Wales. The breed was developed in 1905 from an initial chance mating of a black Aberdeen Angus bull and a roan Shorthorn cow during the Federation drought. From these matings the resulting thirteen dun-grey calves were kept as curiosities. And then Peter and Ena Sutherland bred them on the Thologolong property along the Murray River in New South Wales. Murray Grey cattle grew faster and were good converters of feed and produced quality carcases. These are the reasons this animals become very popular after their development. And local farmers became interested soon in these animals and began breeding them. The first large scale commercial farms were established in the 1940s. Today the breed is available in many countries. Both live Murray Grey cattle and embryos have been exported to many countries such as Canada, South America, New Ze...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sorting Cattle

By
Sorting cattle is important if you have a large number of animals. For better management you will need to separate the animals into different groups depending on their age, size, gender or condition score. If some cattle of your herd need to be examined by a veterinarian or confined due to injury or illness, then separation may also need to be done. Sorting is also needed for separating the calves that need to be weaned from their mothers. And separating the bulls is also necessary after they have done their duty with breeding cows. Sorting Cattle Sorting cattle is not actually a difficult task. It can be done easily if you understand stockmanship principles that take advantage of bovine psychology and behavior. However, here we are describing more about the ways of sorting cattle. Sorting From a Squeeze Chute In this system you can move your cattle through a working corral into a chute system into the squeeze. In this system you can check and process animals f...
Post a Comment
Read more

Andalusian Black Cattle Farming

By
Andalusian Black cattle farming is not too popular, even in it's native area. It is a relatively rare breed which is valued for meat production. But today, the breed is listed as 'endangered', and total number of the breed is very less. The Andalusian Black cattle is a taurine cattle breed, and it was originated in west Andalusia, Spain. It is also known by some other names such as Negra de las Campiñas, Negra Campiñesa and Spanish: Negra Andaluza. The Andalusian Black cattle is actually a beef cattle breed which is raised primarily for meat production purpose. The breed is found in two main areas of west Andalusia (from Cordova to the foothills of the Sierra Morena), and in the provinces of Seville, Cádiz and Huelva. Today, total population of the Andalusian Black cattle breed is very less. And there were about 800 purebred cattle in the year of 2007. Total number of this breed decreased mainly for crossbreeding with other local cattle breeds. Other reason...
Post a Comment
Read more

Belted Galloway Cattle Farming

By
Belted Galloway cattle farming is popular, especially in it's native area. It is a beef cattle breed and raised mainly for meat production purpose. The breed is also known by some other names such as Beltie, Oreo Cow and Panda Cow. The Belted Galloway cattle breed was originated from Galloway in the west side of Southern Scotland. It is a heritage breed, and is well adapted to living on the poor upland pastures and wildswept moorlands of the region. Exact origins of the breed are unclear. But it is often surmised that the white belt of the breed may be a result of cross breeding with the Dutch Lakenvelder belted cattle. And the breed is named so mainly because of the belt. An association for the breed named the Belted Galloway Association was formed in 1921 in Scotland. And the name of the association was changed to Belted Galloway Society in the year of 1951. The association keeps and records pedigrees for Belted Galloways and oversees the registration of White and Re...
Post a Comment
Read more

Cleaning A Cow

By
Cleaning a cow in the proper way can keep the animal look and feel fresh. Cleaning also help to prevent external parasites. You may also need to clean your cow to show it off at your local county fair or other occasions. And you need to clean your cows more often especially if you have dairy cows. You can integrate a spraying system for cleaning a cow once a day or so. Along with cleaning the body, you should also provide a footbath for better health of the cow's hooves. However, here we are describing more about the process of cleaning a cow. Sprinkler System Add Sprinkler in a Pre-milking Wash Pen You can construct a pre-milking wash pen with sprinklers for cleaning multiple cows. In this system, install sprinklers all along the pen you hold the cows in before milking. Using concrete for the floor will be good. It will help to keep the floor dry quickly and you will not have a constantly muddy area. You should spray sprinklers both up and down to wash the cows th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Agerolese Cattle Farming

By
Agerolese cattle farming is not common, even in it's native area. It is a dairy cattle breed which is raised mainly for milk production purpose in it's native area. It is a pretty rare breed and not available outside it's native area. The Agerolese cattle is actually from the area of Agerola, in Campania in southern Italy. It was developed from cross-breeding of indigenous Podolica cattle with Bruna Italiana, Italian Holstein-Friesian and Jersey cattle. The breed is particularly associated with the Sorrento Peninsula and Monti Lattari. The Agerolese cattle is one of the 16 minor Italian cattle breeds of limited diffusion recognized and protected by the Ministero delle Politiche Agricole Alimentari e Forestali, the Italian ministry of agriculture. There were a total of 200 animals available according to a census completed on 1 January 2002. And the conservation status of the Agerolese cattle breed was reported by the FAO as 'endangered-maintained' in 200...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ankole-Watusi Cattle Farming

By
Ankole-Watusi cattle farming is pretty popular, especially in it's native area. It is a multi-purpose breed of domestic cattle which is raised and valued for show, draught, meat and milk production purpose. The Ankole-Watusi cattle is a landrace breed, a type of Sanga cattle and originally native to East Africa. It is also known as Ankole Longhorn, and also sometimes known simply as Ankole or Watusi. Ankole-Watusi cattle is actually an ancient breed, and ancient rock paintings and depictions of these animals have been observed in the Sahara region and in the Egyptian arts and pyramid walls. The Sanga breed has spread to the Sudan, Uganda, Kenya and some other parts of Eastern Africa, becoming the base stock of the indigenous African cattle populations. It has most of the usual Zebu characteristics such as the pendulous dewlap and sheath, hump of variable size and the upturned horns. The Ankole-Watusi cattle have played a very important role in the lives of various ...
Post a Comment
Read more