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Pulse growing guide
Lentil is a cool-season pulse that is sown directly in rows and grown mostly on stored soil moisture. Inoculate the seed, sow 3-4 cm deep into cool soil, keep weeds down early and harvest when most pods turn brown.
Treat the seed with a lentil Rhizobium inoculant (with PSB, a phosphate-solubilising culture, if available) immediately before sowing. Moisten the seed lightly with clean water, mix in the culture, dry briefly in shade and sow the same day. Farm packages in India also use a fungicide seed treatment against wilt and root rot.
Not needed. Lentil seed takes up water quickly once it is in moist soil.
Not needed. Lentil is a cool-season crop and germinates without cold treatment.
Not needed. The Assam package of practices optionally primes seed by soaking it for 6 hours and drying it back in shade before inoculation; never sow seed that is still swollen and wet, as it can be damaged.
Lentil can germinate in soil as cool as 5 °C (41 °F). In Australian trials emergence took 17-21 days at 5-7 °C (41-45 °F), 14-17 days at 7-10 °C (45-50 °F) and 10-14 days at 10-13 °C (50-55 °F). Flowering stops in heat above about 30 °C (86 °F), which is why lentil is grown in the cool season.
3-4 cm (about 1.5 in). Sow into moisture; go a little deeper (up to 4-5 cm) only where the surface is dry or the soil is sandy.
Well-drained loam or clay loam. Yields drop sharply on wet, poorly drained soil because root rots increase.
Sow into soil that is moist from rain or a pre-sowing irrigation. Do not keep the soil wet afterwards.
No light is needed for germination. Choose an open, sunny field or bed.
10-21 days in cool soil. The cotyledons stay below ground, so seedlings can regrow from buds at the base if frost damages the tops.
Do not transplant lentils. Sow in rows 25-30 cm (10-12 in) apart, placing seeds a few centimetres apart in the row. Indian packages use 40-45 kg/ha for small-seeded types and 45-60 kg/ha for bold-seeded types.
Young lentil grows slowly and competes poorly. Keep the crop weed-free for the first 45-60 days with two hand weedings, at about 25-30 and 45-50 days after sowing.
Where there is no winter rain, give one light irrigation at about 40-45 days and, if needed, another at pod filling.
Rainfed crops: first half of October in central and south India, second half of October in the north. Irrigated crops in the north: first half of November. Late sowings after rice: first week of December, with a higher seed rate.
On low to medium fertility soils Indian packages apply about 20 kg N, 40 kg P and 20 kg S per hectare at sowing, plus zinc or boron where soils are deficient. More nitrogen only produces leaves.
Small-seeded and bold-seeded types differ in seed rate and use; pick a variety recommended for your region and, on the plains, one resistant to rust and wilt.
Cut when 70-80% of pods have turned yellow-brown, dry the plants on a threshing floor for 4-7 days, thresh, then sun-dry the clean seed for 3-4 days to 9-10% moisture.
Sow inoculated lentil seed in cool, well-drained soil for a reliable winter pulse crop.
Lentils are sown directly where they will grow. A deep container works for a small trial, but sow the seed in it and do not move the seedlings.
Very little. Inoculated lentil fixes its own nitrogen through root nodules; use a small starter dose with phosphorus and sulphur at sowing and no top-dressing.
In October on rainfed land (early October in central and south India, late October in the north) and in the first half of November on irrigated land in the north.
Rarely. Lentil grows on stored soil moisture; in dry winters one light irrigation at 40-45 days and one at pod filling is enough. Too much water encourages root rot.
