Moth bean (Phaseolus acontifolius Jacq.).   Moth is the most drough-resistant of the kharif pulses, ans is largely grown as a dry crop, either alone or subsidiary to millets or cotton. It is also grown mixed with irrigated fodder jowar and bajra. On account of its material-like habit of growth, it is highly useful against wind-erosion in sandy areas. Occasionally, it is used as green-manure, ripe pods are consumed as a green vegetable. The whole grain is used as pulse in the main producing regions. Green as well as dry plants make good fodder. Rajasthan accounts for over four-fifths of the area (1.7 million hectares) and three-fourths of the annual production (0.2 million tonnes). Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Maharashtra are the other moth-producing tracts.

Choice of varieties
'Nadiad 8-3-2' and 'Jagudam 9-2' from Gujarat; 'Jawel 12-1', and 'Gulia 3-5' from Maharashtra; and types '4312' and '4313' from Uttar Pradesh are promising selections from local cultivars. Subsequently, 3 more varieties, 'Baleshwar 12' and 'G 1' selection from the local material from Gujurat; and 'Jadia' selection from the local bulk from Rajasthan were identified.

Seeding technique
Mothbean requires a minimum preparation of land and can grow on all types of soil. It is primarily a kharif crop and does well on dry sandy soils with poor water retention. It does require good drainage. As a sloe crop, mothbean may be sown in rows 40-80 cm apart at shallow depth. The seed rate is 10-15 kg/ha for the sole crop and somewhat less when grown as an intercrop. One weeding may be done during the early growth stages to reduce competition from weeds. Application of 10 kg of nitrogen and 20 kg P₂O₅/ha are adequate for the crop.

Plant protection
Galerucid beetles and jassids stipple the leaves and suck the juice from the mesophyll tissue. To control these insects, addition of Disulfoton @ 1.0 kg/ha to the soil at the time of sowing and spraying with 0.1% Lindane or 0.07% Endosulfan or 5% BHC dust to control foliar damage are recommended. Leaf-spot and anthracnose disease damage the leaves and pods causing heavy reduction in the yield. Seed treatment with Captan or Thiram (2-3 g/kg of seed) helps eliminate the seed-borne inoculum and spraying of Captan or Zineb @ 2 g/litre controls foliar infection. Spraying 0.07% Endosulfan controls the vector of yellow-mosiac virus, thereby minimizing disease incidence.

SOIL AND CLIMATE.   This pulse is largely cultivated on well-drained but poor soils, ranging from very light alluviums to heavy loams. In the Deccan, it is grown on light, stony, more or less, upland soils. It prefers a well-distributed moderate rainfall. Heavy rain is very detrimental, because it results in profuse vegetative growth.

CULTIVATION.   The cultivation of this pulse is similar to that of green-gram (mung) and black-gram. The preparation of soil is very haphazard. Sowing starts with the monsoon rains in June or July. The seed is sown broadcast at the rate of 25-40 kg per hectare when grown alone, or at the rate of 5-25 kg when mixed with other crops. No weeding or interculture is given. The crop is ready for harvesting in October-November. The ripe plants are cut with a sickle, dried for a week or so and threshed by trampling with bullocks and are winnowed as usual. The average yield is about 2-5 quintals of grain per hectare.

VARIETIES.   Two types are recognized in trade - one having green seeds (the commonest type) and the other having black seeds. No improved varieties of this pulse have been produced so far, only some selections ('B. 16-1', 'B. 19-50', 'D. 5-56', 'D. 10-1-56' and 'Baleshwar 12') have been made in Rajasthan.

Peas (Pisum sativum L.). The major part of the area under this crop is in the Indo-Gangetic plains, Uttar Pradesh, accounting for 0.5 million hectares and 0.47 million tonnes (out of 0.65 million hectares, with a production of 0.5 million tonnes) in 1974-75. It is a high-yielding pulse crop; unripe pods are used as a green vegetable and the broken parts are used as a cattle feed.

SOIL AND CLIMATE. This pulse is similar to gram and lentil in it requirements, except that it does better in loamy soils. It cannot be grown in alkaline soils.

SEASON AND ROTATION.   It is grown as a cold-weather, irrigated crop. The sowing season extends from October to December. It is generally cultivated after cotton in Uttar Pradesh.

VARIETIES.   The improved varieties recommended for the different zones of the country are given in table 13.

Pigeon-pea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.).   Pigeon-pea or red-gram (arhar) is extensively used as dal; its green podes may be used as a vegetable. The green leaves and tops of plants are fed to animals or are utilized as green manure. The husks of pods or seeds with parts of the kernels (a byproduct of dal preparation) constitute a valuable cattle-feed. Dry stalks obtained after threshing are used for basket-making or as fuel or as thatching=material. Being deep-rooted, it is also planted as a soil renovator to break up the hard subsoil and as a hedge to check erosion. The heavy shedding of leaves adds considerable organic matter to the soil. It is also often grown as a cover crop in plantations.

Pigeon-pea is grown almost in every state. The average annual area under it is about 2.5 million hectares and the production is nearly 1.8 million tonnes of grain.

Soil and climatic requirements
Pigeonpea is grown throughout th tropical, subtropical and warmer regions of the world between 30^o north and 35^o south latitude. As it prefers warm temperatures, pigeonpea is grown in the plains of India during different seasons in different parts of the country. However, major cultivation is confined to the kharif season. Though it can withstand high temperaratures,low temperatures are unfavourable for its growth and development.
Further, it is susceptible to frost and even one night's frost can cause heavy losses. As such in northern parts of the country, pigeonpea is grown as a summer or kharif crop,whereas in central and peninsular regions it can be grown throughout the year. Pigeonpea can be grown on a wide range of soils varying from loam to very heavy clay soils.It thrives well on red soils as well as black cotton soils of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Pigeonpea with its deep root system is fairly drought-tolerant but cannot thrive in flooded fields; even temporary standing water causes heavy mortality, especially at a seedling stage.

A list of improved varieties of pigeonpea, suitable for different zones is
given below.

1.North-western Zone	: (Punjab,Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh,  Jammu and Kashmir)
Early	'Parbhat', 'UPAS 120', 'T 21', 'Pusa Ageti',  'Pusa 74', 'Pusa 84', 'Pant A 1', 'Pant A 2', '  'HPA 1', 'TT 5', 'AL 15', 'Manak', 'H 77-216',  'Sagar' ('H 77-208'), 'BS 1'
Medium	: 'Sharda' ('S 8'), 'Mukta' ('R 60')
Late	: 'NP(WR) 15', 'Gwalior 3'
2.North-eastern Zone	: (Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal,  Orissa, Assam)
Early	'Parbhat', 'UPAS 120', 'T 21', 'Pusa Ageti',  'Pusa 74', 'Pusa 84', 'Pant A 1', 'TT 5', 'BS 1'
Medium	: 'Sharda' , 'Mukta', 'Laxmi', 'Bahar', 'Basant'  'BR 65', 'BR 183', 'C 11', '20(105)' '(Rabi')
Late	: 'T 7', 'T 17', 'NP(WR) 15', 'Chuni', ('B 517'), 'Sweta'
3.Central Zone	: (Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra  Orissa, Assam)
Early	'Parbhat', 'UPAS 120', 'T 21', 'Pusa Ageti',  'Pusa 74', 'J 9-19', 'TT 6', 'TAT 10',  'Visaka 1' ('TT 6')
Medium	: 'Sharda' , 'Mukta', 'C 11', 'C 36', 'BDN 1',  'BDN 2', 'No. 148', 'Khargone 2', 'T 15-15',  'PT 301', 'JA 3', 'No. 84', 'No. 290-21',  'Hyderabad 185'
Late	: 'SA 1'