Green peas are a popular vegetable through out the world. Fresh green peas are used as a vegetable while dried peas are used as a pulse. Green peas are a rich source of proteins, amino acids and sugars while green peas straw are a good nutritious fodder for livestock.
Pea cultivation
Pea vegetables are a cool season crop grown through out the world and its cultivation can be done on various soil types though well drained soils with a PH of 6 to 7.5 are the most ideal.
Peas cannot thrive in water logged areas and liming has to be done incase of acidic soils.
Soils for planting are prepared by removing all weeds then 1 to 2 ploughings done followed by 1 to 2 harrowings.
The soil is then levelled to avoid water logging.
The pea seeds can be planted either by broad casting or by planting them in rows though its advisable to do raw planting as this makes all other field operations easy. The planting rows should be about 1 feet apart and the seeds should be 3 to 4 inches apart sowed at a depth of between 2 to 3cm below the ground.
A light watering after planting will help in better germination of the seeds.
35 to 40kg of seed are needed per acre of land.
Management practices
Weeding depends on the variety of peas either 1 or 2 weedings are required. The first weeding needs to be done 3 or 4 weeks after planting and the second weeding needs to be done before flowering.
Aphids, thrips, leaf miner and pad borers are some common pests for green peas. Leaf rust and powdery mildew are some common diseases of green peas. Consult from an extension worker the best ways of controlling all these pests and diseases.
Harvesting has to be done just before maturity.
