REDGRAM - Cajanus cajan L. Millsp.

( 2n = 22)
Syn: Cajanus indicus Spreng
Vernacular names
Redgram,
pigeonpea,
Congo bean,
Angola pea,
Thovarai (Tamil),
Arhar (Hindi), Tur (Hindi) and
Kandulu (Telegu)

IMPORTANCE
Redgram is the second most important legume of India
Redgram are consumed as fresh green peas in
Caribbean, Latin American, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, India,
Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia
In India, late maturity types of vegetable redgram are
grown in kitchen backyards or as bund crop
The top of the plants with fruit provide excellent fodder
and are also made into hay and silage
Redgram is used as shade crop in cacao and turmeric as
wind breaks and for antierosion works
The dried and stalks are used for firewood, thatching
and baskets

i .exe

Redgram Origin
Primary centre

- Africa

Secondary centre

- India

Distribution
World: USA, Hawai, West Indies, India, Australia, Kenya, Uganda,
Tanzania, Namibia, Malawi
India: Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra,
Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu

BOTANY
Redgram is an annual
Plant height is 0.6 to 1.5 m in height
Deep tap root system
Leaves are trifoliate and spirally arranged
Leaflets are banceolate to narrow elliptic, hairy on both sides
Inflorescences is raceme
Pod has 3 to 4 seeds
Hundred seeds weight 11 to 13 gm
Redgram is self pollinated
20 % cross pollination due to bees and other insects
Flowers open between 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and remain open for 6 hours
Podding begins in 12 to 14 weeks after sowing
Pods in early varieties require 5 to 6 months to reach maturity
Pods in late varieties require around 9 months to reach maturity
Conversion ratio from fresh green pods to dried pods is about 3.3

Two ecotypes in redgram

(i) Cajanus cajan var. flavus are Tur cultivars
Earlier maturing cultivars
Shorter plants
green glabrous pods
pods are light coloured when ripe
Pod are three seeded
Tur cultivars are cultivated in Peninsular India
(ii) Cajanus cajan var bicolor are Arhar cultivars
Perennial cultivars
Late maturing cultivars
Large, bushy plants
Pods are hairy blocked with maroon or dark colour
Pod has 4 - 5 seeds
Arhar cultivars are grown in north India.

Chemical composition of Redgram

Feature
Green seed Dry seed
(%)
(%)
Moisture
67.4
10.0
Protein
7.02
1.31
Fat
0.6
2.1
Carbohydr
20.2
--ate
Fibre
3.5
--Ash
1.3
---

Dry ripe
seed (%)
10.1
9.2
1.5
57.3

Split seed
(dhal (%))
15.2
22.3
1.7
57.2

8.1
3.8

--3.6

CLIMATE
Redgram is cultivated between 30 oN and 30oS up to an
altitude of 1800 m from MSL
Redgram is less suitable for wet tropics
Redgram is short day plant.
Late maturity varieties are short day plants while early
varieties are photosensitive plants.
The cardinal minimum, optimum and maximum
temperature is 10o C, 24oC to 29oC and 35oC respectively
Redgram is susceptible to frost damage at all stages of
growth.
Average annual rainfall of 600 mm to 1000 mm is most
suitable for redgram growth and yield.
Rainfall of 625 mm per year is adequate for good growth
under semiarid conditions
High yields are obtained when there is good rainfall during
the first 2 months of growth followed by a dry period
during flowering and harvesting.
It is a drought resistant crop with deep root system.
Redgram is fairly resistant to wind and is sometimes
planted in double rows as a wind break.

SOIL
Redgram can be grown on almost all soil types
Soil should not markedly be deficient in lime
It thrives best on deep loam soils free from excessive
soluble salts and near neutral pH
It is sensitive to sea spray and does not thrive near the
seashore
It will not tolerate waterlogging condition

Redgram is sensitive to salinity and alkalinity

LAND PREPARATION
Subsoiling on lands having hardpan permits both deep
proliferation of roots and great infiltration of water to the
deeper layers of the soil
Seedbed moisture content of 40 to 50 % to ensure quick
and adequate germination
Surface drainage is an important in the seed bed
preparation

SEASON
Kharif
Puratasipattam
Summer

(June-August)
(September-November)
(February-March)

Growth stages
Type
Long duration
Short duration

Days to %
flowering
100
83

Days to 75 %
flowering
107
93

Days to
maturity
180
135

SEED RATE AND VARIETY PARTICULARS OF REDGRAM

Seed rate (kg
per ha)
Varieties

Duration (days)

Hundred
seed weight
50 %
(gm)
flowerin Maturity
g
120-130
180
8.5

Pure
crop

Mixed
crop

SA 1

10

5.0

CO 3

25

12.5

90-95

130

CO 4

25

12.5

90-95

CO 5

25

12.5

CO 6

10

Vamban 1

25

Seed yield kg per ha

Rainfed

Irrigated

1250

7.2

1180

130

8.5

980

1400
1750

70-75

110

8.0

760

9.0

120-130

180

8.8

900

12.5

70

100

8.8

840
1200
1.0kg
BSR 1
100-110
180
12.0
/plant
Note: SA 1, CO 3, CO 4 and BSR 1 are used for bund planting @ 50 gm per 100 m.

Spacing for pure crop, intercrop / bund crop

Variety
Co2
Co 3
Co 4
Co 5
Co 6
SA 1
BSR 1, SA 1

Spacing for pure crop

spacing for intercrop /

bund crop

45 cm x 30 cm
45 cm x 30 cm
45 cm x 30 cm
45 cm x 30 cm
90 cm x 30 cm
90 cm x 30 cm
----

------------240 cm x 30 cm
240 cm x 30 cm
60 cm

SEEDS AND SOWING IN REDGRAM

Seeds are sown either by broadcasting, line sowing or dibbling
Treat the seeds with carbendazim or Thiram @ 2 g/kg of seed
Fungicide treated seeds should be again treated with a rhizobium
culture
24 hours interval for giving rhizobium culture treatment after
fungicidal treatment
Three packets of rhizobial culture (600 g) for treating 25 kg of seeds
for one ha
Culture slurry is prepared with 500 ml of rice gruel + 10 % of sugar /
gur / jaggery solution
50 gm of sugar or gur to 500 ml of water
Boil the solution for 15 minutes to dissolve the sugar in water
Cool the stickys solution to room temperature
Mix three packets of rhizobial culture into the cooled sticky solution
Slurry solution helps rhizobium stick to the seed surface and also
enhances the survival of rhizobium
Dry the bacterial culture treated seeds in shade for 15 minutes before
sowing
The innoculated seeds should not be exposed to sunlight
Seeds after innoculation with rhizobium should be sown as soon as
possible preferably on the same day
Innoculated sown seed should be covered with soil
The innoculated seeds should not be allowed to come in direct
contact with chemical fertilizers. In very acid soils, it is advisable to
sow the innoculated seeds along with lime, dolomite or neutralized
super phosphate
Sowing of redgram can be done on ridges when soil internal
drainage is poor which leads to waterlogging
Seeds take nearly five days for germination under favourable
conditions

WEED MANAGEMENT IN REDGRAM

Critical weed free period is 60 DAS
Spray Fluchloralin 1.5 lit per ha or Pendimethalin 2 lit per ha
mixed with 900 litres of water on three days after sowing which
is followed by irrigation
Subsequently one hand weeding may be given on 30 to 35 days
after sowing
If herbicide is not applied, give two hand weeding are given on
20 and 35 days after sowing

MANURES AND FERTILIZER APPLICATION

Basal application of 12.5-25-0 and 25-50-0 kg of N, P 2O5 and K2O
per ha is recommended for rainfed and irrigated conditions
respectively.
Soil application of 25 kg of sulphur as gypsum (110 kg / ha) or 2
% urea in two sprays at flower commencement and 15 days after
may be given.

GROWTH REGULATORS
Spray 40 ppm NAA (40 mg/litre) is mixed with urea at flowering
initiation
Spray of TIBA @ 150 ppm (150 mg/litre) at flowering initiation to
increase grain yield

10

WATER MANAGEMENT IN REDGRAM

Water requirement is 400 mm
It is a drought tolerant crop
It responds well to irrigation during summer
seasons
Irrigate the crop immediately after sowing third
day after sowing, bud initiation, 50 % flowering
and pod development stages
Irrigation is given at 60 % depletion of available
soil moisture
Water stagnation should be avoided
Ridge planting ensures quick disposal of rain
water allowing no stagnation
Redgram is grown as rainfed crop
The moisture stored in the soil profile during
monsoon (rainy) period is used by the crop in the
post-monsoon period

CROPPING SYSTEMS
Redgram is grown either as sole crop or as an
intercrop with cereals like sorghum, pearl millet
or oilseeds like groundnut.
Mixed cropping with long
under rainfed conditions

duration

varieties

Intercropping of redgram + groundnut in 1 : 6

ratio is recommended for during kharif season.
Multitier cropping of redgram for rainfed black
soil with more than 300 mm rainfall during the

11

cropping period
agathi

with 1 m x 1 m spacing

forms

first tier,
redgram

with 45 cm x 20 cm forms

second tier,
cotton with

45 cm x 20 cm forms third

tier and
blackgram
fourth tier

with 30 cm x 10 cm forms

12

HARVEST
Pods are picked as they mature, when most of
leaves have dried and shed
Whole crop is cut down when about two-thirds or
three quarters of the pods are mature
Plants are cut down to the ground level, tied into
bundles, and left to dry for a few days, before
being threshed
Pods and left after thrashing are usually beaten
with sticks
Seeds and chaffs separated by winnowing

POST HARVEST TECHNOLOGY

Seeds moisture content at storage is 10 %
Periodic fumigation of the storage chamber with
carbon bisulphide, phosphine, ethylene dibromide or
methyl bromide is to be done against insect
infestation
The ripe dry seeds are boiled and eaten as pulse
Ripe dry seeds are split and made into dhal through
dry or wet method
Dry method:
Dry seeds are placed in the sun for 3 to 4 days and
are then split in a mill
Reprat this process is repeated for 3 to 4 times
Wet method:
Seeds are soaked in water for 6 to 10 times mixed
with red earth overnight, than dried in the sun, after

13

which the red earth is removed by sieving

Seeds are finally split into dhal in a hand mill
Split dhal is then treated with castor or sesame oil to
improve its quality, give it an attractive appearance
and prevent insect attack
Dhal yield is about 66 % by the dry method and 80 %
by the wet method

PULSE CROPS AND THEIR IMPORTANCE

The word 'Legume' comes from Latin word 'Legere'
meaning ' to gather ' and indicate that the seeds were
collected by hand instead of being threshed from the plant as
in cereal grains
Grain legumes belong to the family Fabaceae
Grain legumes are leguminous species which includes the
edible pulse grains and high protein leguminous oilseeds
such as soybean and peanut.
Pulse is defined as the split cotyledons of dry legume seed
which are used as food, boiled in water, softened, macerated
and used as soup
Pulse applies to pigeonpea,
blackgram, lathyrus,and lentil

chickpea,

greengram,

Pulses supply proteins which form the chief source in

vegetarian food
Presently all legumes are used as dried, fried or boiled,
powdered or macerated into soup.

14

All rabi pulses have a chromosome number of 2n = 14

except chickpea which has 16 whereas kharif pulses posses
2n = 22 except horsegram and field bean which have 24.

15

IMPORTANCE OF PULSE CROPS

Indian people are mostly vegetarian, depending largely on
cereals and pulses as their staple food
Pulses provide the main source of dietary proteins and calories
Average per capita consumption of pulse in India is about one
ounce while the minimum requirement is about three ounces
according to nutrition experts
India is the major pulse growing country of the world
accounting roughly for one third of the total world area under
pulses and one fourth of the world production pulse
In the tropics, cereals on average account for about 68 % of
total plant protein consumption; legume seed accounts 18.5 %,
tubers, nuts, fruit and vegetables accounts 13.5 %. The protein
content of grain legumes varies from 17 to 40 %.
Pulses contain 20 to 30 % protein, 60 % carbohydrates, 1.0 to
2.5 % fat and a good sources of thiamine, nicotinic acid,
calcium and iron
Pulse proteins are rich in lysine and show deficiency of
tryptophan and sulphur containing amino acids like methionine
and cystine, a reverse situation exists in the cereals proteins.
Protein provided by cereals and pulse mixture is equivalent to
skimmed milk in terms of its biological value.
Pulses mixed with cereals in 3:7 proportions enhance the
overall nutritive value of proteins
The major form of phosphorus fraction in pulses is phytin
phosphorus, which accounts for 40 to 50 % of total
phosphorus.
Pulses are a good source of vitamins.
Germinated seeds of pulses contained increased amounts of
carotene, ascorbic acid, pantothenic, biotin, nicotinic acid,
thiamine, riboflavin and vitamin B12.
The digestibility coefficient, biological value and protein
efficiency ratio varied from 60 to 90 percent, 45 to 78 percent
and 0.7 to 1.1 respectively.

16
Germination and cooking improve protein digestibility
Kabuli type of bengalgram has higher protein content than desi
type.
Black gram is superior in its nutritive value among the pulse
crops.
Blackgram and redgram are deficient in methionine, trytophan,
threomine and lysine.
The presence of saponins, glycosides, tanins, alkaloids with
phytin in hemicellulose substance inhibit the action of
digestive enzyme
Trypsin in different
digestability.

pulses

adversely

affect

the

pulses

Pulse crops or grain legumes play an important role for

sustaining soil productivity as one of the component crop in
various cropping systems.
Legume crops fix atmospheric nitrogen in symbiotic association
with rhizobium which reduce the requirement of fertilizer
nitrogen.
Quantity of nitrogen fixed by legume crops
Crops
Pigeon pea
Greengram
Cowpea
Cluster bean
Soybean
Chickpea
Groundnut
Pea
Lentil

Nitrogen fixed
(kg/ha)
41-91
61
65-80
130
65
103
24
50-80
35-75

Nitrogen harvest index values (seed nitrogen / total plant

nitrogen) for cowpea, soybean, groundnut and chickpea is
0.61, 0.75, 0.80 and 0.73 respectively indicate the nitrogen
economy of pulse or legume crops.
Pulse crops have deep penetrating top root system that helps
to utilize the limited available soil moisture more efficiently

17
than many other crops including cereals that contribute
substantially to the loosening up of the soil.
Pulses such as redgram, horsegram, mothbean, lathyrus and
lentil are drought tolerant.

18

REASONS FOR POOR YIELD OF PULSES

Grain legumes have either originated or being cultivated on
marginal lands
Pulses have their deep root systems, nodulation and nitrogen
fixation capacity
These hardly enjoyed the inputs of irrigation and fertilization
Phaseolus, Vigna and Pisum are prostrate/ spreading / twining
habitat which creates a tight leaf canopy that does not allow air
exchange and is inefficient in utilizing sunlight growth and
development are suppressed or delayed due to self shading
Vicia, Cicer and Cajanus have indeterminate growth habit
Flowers and pods abscise / abort for lack of nutrition
Flower shedding may be 30 to 50 %.
Pods do not develop to their full potential
Uneven maturity occurs in indeterminate cultivars
All the grain legumes have a high rate of photorespiration,
typical of C3 plants.
C4 and CAM (Gassulacian Acid Metabolism ) are not found in the
grain legumes.

19
FACTORS LIMITING PULSE CROP PRODUCTION:
Ecological factors:
o 92 % area under pulse cultivation is rainfed condition
o Pulses are sensitive to excess moisture, waterlogging, acidity, salinity and
alkalinity.
o Frost cause heavy damages to rabi pulses particularly to chickpea
o Continuous rain invites more insect pests and diseases both in kharif and rabi
pulses.
Lack of proper agronomic management

Pulses crops can utilize the limited soil moisture and nutrients

Pulses are grown with poor management practices

Varietal features
Non availability of seeds of improved varieties,
indeterminate growth,
no response to good management,
flower and pod drop due to limitation of nutrients,
hormonal imbalance, etc.
Socioeconomic factors
Pulses have subsidary status as catch crops or intercrops
Limited resource is allocated for pulses production
Low economic return form pulse crops
Pulses are not remunerative
Pulses lack price policy in parity with cereals.

20
ANTINUTRITIONAL AND TOXIC FACTORS

Raw pulses are of low nutritive value because of presence of

trypsin inhibition, hemagglutinin, etc., which affect protein
utilization
Pulses are known to contain toxic substances which are
eliminated by soaking and subsequent discarding of the liquid
and or by heat treatment at relatively elevated temperatures
Trypsin inhbitors inhibit proteolytic activity of certain enzymes
People consuming Lathyrus for prolong periods are known to
suffer from paralytic disease known as lathyrism.
Phytohaemagglutinins substances possessing the property to
agglutinate red blood cells
Lectins binds saccharides and saccharides containing proteins
Cyanogenetic glycosides releases
hydrolysis of lima bean seeds

hydrocyanic

acid

on

Favisum is characterised by hemolytic anemia affecting certain

individuals following the ingestion of fresh raw or cooked broad
beans
Saponins content in pulses cause abdominal pain, vomiting and
diarrhea
Saponins reduce cholestrol level and the risk of heart disease
Saponins are not destroyed during cooking or processing.
Fermentation reduces the level of saponins.
Tanins (Polyphenols) reduce the digestibility of dietary proteins
Removal of seed coats during processing will remove nearly all
of the tannins
Panching and roasting of pulse seeds improved nutritive value
of proteins and biological value