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Green Pea belongs to the family Leguminoseae.
It is an annual herbaceous plant. The plant is semi-erect
but has a tendancy to climb on support if available. Stems
are slender, hollow and succulent. Leaves are pinnately
compound. Inflorescence is an axillary raceme. Fruit is
a typical pod containing 4-9 seeds. The crop is generally
self-fertilised but cross-fertilisation may also occur.
It require a cool growing season. The optimum monthly
temperature suitable for its growth is 13-180C
Green pea can be successfully grown in altitudes above
1000 m in the cool season. Well-drained loamy and laterite
soils are suitable
Bonnevilla, Markserbsen (These are short
duration varieties with long green pods each containing
7-8 kernels; suitable for canning)
Season
The crop is sown in October-November after abatement of
the southwest monsoon showers. Crops sown beyond January
will not give satisfactory result.
Preparation of land
The land should be prepared thoroughly by ploughing,
digging and removing all stems, stubbles, etc. For early-sown
crop, raised beds of 1 m width and 5 cm height may be
prepared for sowing the seeds. If irrigation is necessary,
provide furrows between rows for guiding water.
Seeds and sowing
Adopt seed rate of 60 kg/ha and spacing of 15-20 cm
between rows and 10 cm between plants. Place the seeds
at a depth of 2 to 2.5 cm. Line sowing is helpful for
training the vines on standard
The crop is mainly grown in unirrigated
area. Light and uniform irrigation may be given. Precaution
must be taken while irrigating pea crop. Water logging
condition even for one day causes considerable yield loss
since the crop is highly sensitive to poor drainage.
Manuring
Apply FYM or compost @ 20 t/ha and N:P2O5:K2O @ 30:40:60
kg/ha as basal dressing. In soils of medium fertility,
top dressing of nitrogen @ 30 kg/ha four weeks after sowing
is essential.
Aftercultivation
Weed the plots four weeks after sowing and 50 days later.
Provide support for training the vines. Pods can be harvested
when the grains are fully developed. In short duration
varieties, harvesting will be over within 100-120 days
while long duration varieties will normally take 140-160
days. Average yield is 8-10 t/ha of green pods.
Soak the seeds before sowing in a copper-based
fungicide solution. Spray malathion 0.05% suspension at
15-20 days interval for the control of aphids. Stop application
of chemicals 10 days before harvesting. Powdery mildew
can be controlled by spraying oxythioquinox 0.05% or dinocap
EC 0.02%. For control of downy mildew, spray any of the
copper-based fungicides at a concentration of 0.2 to 0.3%.
The picking of green pods should be done
by giving a simple jerk to the pedicel.
10-12.5 tons of green pods per hectare.
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