VARIETIES
The
local green gram variety
- Has small seeds.
- Plants mature at different times.
- Matures late.
- Has a lot of stony seeds, which makes green gram meal
difficult to eat.
The
improved variety K26
- Has large seeds.
- Gives high yields and plants ripen at the same time.
- Matures early.
- Does well in dry areas.
LAND
PREPARATION AND PLANTING
Prepare
land early enough so that planting can start when the rains
begin. Green gram can be planted alone or intercropped with
other crops like maize. When planted alone, sow it 11/2
ft between rows and 1/2 ft between plants. One acre of land
will require 2 to 4 gorogoros (4 to 8 kg) of seed for planting.
WEEDING
The
first weeding should be done 3 weeks after the seeds have
emerged followed by the second weeding 6 weeks later.
FERTILIZERS
If the
soils are poor, you can apply up to 12 gorogoros or 1/2
bag of DAP per acre.
PESTS
Insect
pests that attack green grams are bean aphids, bean fly
and bruchid weevils.
PESTS DAMAGE
& CONTROL SYMPTOMS
Bean
Aphid Insects feed - Plant early on leaves and - Spray with
Karate pods, causing the plant to stay short.
Bean Fly Plants that have - Use certified seed been attacked
are - Practise crop rotation yellow and may wilt.- Spray
with Benomyl or copper oxychloride
DISEASES
The
main disease that affects green gram is powdery mildew.
You can detect it when you see whitish growth under the
leaves.
Control
· Use certified seed
· Practise crop rotation
· Spray crop with Benomyl or copper oxychloride
HARVESTING
Harvest
green gram when most of the pods have turned black. You
can pick and dry individual pods or uproot the whole plant
and dry it for about 2 days, then thresh and clean it.
STORAGE
You
must dry green grams well before storing because bruchid
weevils attack the stored grain. It is best to store the
grain in covered tins, drums, pots or sealed containers.
If you store it in bags, add the ash of neem leaves or buy
super actellic and add 2 matchboxes full (50 g) to one 90
kg bag of green grams for protection against the bruchid.
Mix the actellic or ash well with green grams before storage.
YIELDS
Average
yields range from 1 to 2 bags (90 -180 kg) per acre. If
you follow the above steps you can get up to 4 bags (360
kg) per acre. The stover is good livestock feed. You can
get a return of 5 times your investment if you follow the
steps in this leaflet.
WHERE
TO GET THE SEED
Seed
can be obtained from Kenya Seed Company, KARl Katumani RO
Box 340 Machakos, KARl Kitale RO Box 450 Kitale or contact
your extension officer
Compiled by C. Lusweti and
P. Omolo
More info. from
KARI Headquarters Library
resource.center@kari.org
Kari Kitale Box450 Kital
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