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Pulse growing guide
Horse gram (kulthi) is one of the hardiest dryland pulses: it is sown late on leftover soil moisture, needs little input and still gives grain where other pulses fail. This guide covers sowing, the small share of hard seed and the problems that matter in the field.
Indian packages of practice coat the seed with Rhizobium and phosphate-solubilising bacteria culture just before sowing, using rice kanji as a sticker and drying it in shade for about 15 minutes. Where root rot is a problem, a seed fungicide or Trichoderma viride is applied first.
Usually not needed. Wild horse gram has thick seed coats, but the coat thinned during domestication, and cultivated seed lots typically contain only 5-10% hard seed. If a lot germinates slowly and unevenly, rub the seed lightly with coarse sand to scratch the coat.
Not needed. Horse gram is a tropical, completely frost-intolerant pulse with no cold requirement.
Not needed for field sowing, which relies on soil moisture. Soaking is used when sprouting horse gram for food, not for crop establishment.
Sow into warm soil. Horse gram grows best at about 25-35 °C (77-95 °F), and Indian guidance gives 25-30 °C (77-86 °F) with moderately dry air as ideal. Growth declines markedly below 20 °C (68 °F).
Forage guidance gives 1-1.5 cm (about 1/2 in), lightly covered. Place the seed into moist soil; in Indian practice fertiliser goes 2-5 cm (1-2 in) to the side and below the seed.
Almost any well-drained soil from sand and gravel to heavy clay, at about pH 5-8, including the lateritic red soils of south India. Avoid alkaline soils. It tolerates low to moderate salinity but not waterlogging.
Sow when the topsoil holds moisture after rain. Heavy rain soon after sowing can hinder nodule formation, and standing water damages the crop.
Cover the seed. Grow in full sun.
No exact figure is published for cultivated seed; normal seed emerges promptly in warm, moist soil, while hard seeds absorb water more slowly and can lag.
Not used. Sow in lines at 25-30 kg seed per hectare with rows 25-30 cm (10-12 in) apart in the post-monsoon (rabi) season or 40-45 cm (16-18 in) in kharif, and about 5 cm (2 in) between plants. TNAU dibbles seed at 30 x 10 cm (12 x 4 in). Broadcast sowing uses about 40 kg/ha.
Weed once by hand-hoeing at 25-30 days after sowing; after that the spreading plants cover the ground. A small basal dose of fertiliser (about 20 kg N and 30 kg P2O5 per hectare) is enough.
In India the main sowing runs from late August to November; Tamil Nadu sows in September-November and TNAU recommends November for rainfed crops. As fodder it is sown in June-August.
Horse gram has been grown where annual rainfall is as low as 300 mm, but it does not tolerate flooding or waterlogging. Choose well-drained upland fields.
Common Indian varieties reach 50% flowering at about 45-60 days and mature in about 100-110 days.
Harvest when the whole plant has matured, sun-dry the threshed seed for 3-4 days to 9-10% moisture and store it protected from storage insects.
Sow horse gram on the last good soil moisture for a hardy, low-input pulse crop.
Usually not. Cultivated seed lots have only about 5-10% hard seed, so sow it dry into moist soil. Rub a slow-germinating lot lightly with coarse sand if needed.
Mostly as a late kharif or rabi crop, from late August to November depending on the state, and in June-August when grown for fodder.
Yes. It is grown as a rainfed crop and copes with very low rainfall, but it does not survive waterlogging or frost.
