A Guide to Gram Crops: Sowing, Herbicide Use and Disease Management
A Guide to Gram Crops: Sowing, Herbicide Use and Disease Management
Gram is a major crop for Indian farmers, and the current season is good for sowing. However, blight and other problems can cause heavy crop losses. Hence, it is very important to know the measures from sowing to herbicide application, biological seed treatment, and disease control.
Proper timing of sowing and use of herbicides
Right now is the right time to plant gram. Sowing should be done immediately if there is sufficient moisture in the soil, and wet sowing is more useful if the moisture is low. If herbicide application is required at sowing, Ziller or Pendymethylene (700 ml per acre) is recommended. Application of this herbicide after sowing can control weeds and improve the growth of gram crop.
Sowing method and seed rate
Gram sowing should be done by BBF (Broad bed furrow), bed method or Sari Varamba method. These practices keep moisture under control and improve crop growth. The amount of seed should be kept according to the size of the grain. 20 kg per acre of fine grain, 25 kg per acre of medium grain and 30 kg per acre of coarse grain should be used.
Organic seed process
Organic seed treatment is very important, as it protects against dieback. Trichoboost DX (5 gm) and NPK Boost DX (5 gm) per kg of seed mixed with water is recommended. If TrichoBoost alone is to be used, 500 g per acre should be mixed with manure, soil or sand and applied with sowing. If the disease incidence is high, a combination of biological and chemical seed treatments should be used.
Manure management
It is important to choose the right fertilizer for gram soil nutrition. If there is excess growth of gram in the ground, only single super phosphate (3 bags per acre) should be applied at sowing. In medium growing areas, one of the DAP, 12:32:16 or 14:35:14 fertilizers should be applied along with sowing. For low growing soils, use 20:20:0:13 or 24:24:0:8 with murate of potash. Better results can be obtained if farmers have the budget to use Riser G (5-6 kg per acre) with fertilizer.
Downy mildew disease and control in gram
Blight disease can cause huge crop losses. Fusarium wilt, black root rot, dry root rot, wet root rot, collar rot, and Rhizoctonia solani are the major types of dieback. Fusarium wilt causes plants to turn yellow and dry up suddenly, while dry root rot causes plant roots to rot with black spots.
Preventive measures include deep ploughing, rotation, timely sowing and proper seed treatment. An important solution in biological solutions is the application of Trichoboost DX with soil, sand or manure.
remedial measures
Chemical treatments should include a low dose of Pixel or Thiophynate Methyl, a moderate dose of Kryptox or Ridomil Gold, and a high dose of Eliot 2 g per liter for dense spraying.
Last thoughts
Balanced use of biological and chemical measures is necessary to reduce the growing die disease problem in gram crop. Proper seeding, fertilizer management, and spraying techniques protect crops and increase yields. Taking care of the gram crop gives more financial benefits to the farmers and improves the health of the crop.
Better management of gram crop will help the farmers to get more yield.