Pulses are the most important source of vegetable protein in Pakistan. They are cultivated on 5% of the total cropped area. Their use ranges from baby food to the delicacies of the rich and the poor. Because of the population growth, demand for pulses is increasing day by day. There is a need to develop varieties with higher yield potential that respond to improved management practices so as to meet the increasing demand of pulses.
Major pulse crops grown in the country are chickpea(Cicerarietinum L.),lentil(Lens culinaris Medic.),mung bean(Vignaradiata (L.) Wilczek),black gram or mash(Vignamungo L. Hepper) and khesari(Lathyrussativus L.). There are other summer and winter pulses such as pigeonpea(Cajanuscajan L. Millsp.),Cowpea(Vignaunguiculata (L.) Walp.),moth bean(Vignaaconitifolia (Jack) Merechal),common beans(Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and faba bean(Viciafaba L.). These minor pulses are grown in small areas.
The total area under major pulse crops in Pakistan is about 1.5m hectares. Among these pulses, the chickpea is the major winter food legume and mung is the major summer legume. Chickpea occupies 73% of the total pulses area with a 76 % contribution to the total production, whereas mung bean occupies 18% of the total area devoted to pulses contributing 16% to the total pulses production. The black gram and lentil, each are cultivated on 5% of the total pulses area and each of them contributes 5% to the total pulses production.
Major pulses chickpea crop is effected by following pests
1. Gram Pod Borer 2.Semilooper
Written by: Sajid Aslam
