**3.4 Tillage**

Arable land is necessary to treat the soil with agricultural tools and tools to obtain ideal conditions for seed germination, seed establishment, and plant growth. The main objective of tillage is to create good soil and soil conditions for crop establishment and initial development of roots and shoots. The Kharif legume requires tillage to open the soil through a rotating plow and two cross wrinkles followed by a plank. In Rabi legumes, soil plows after Kharif and if necessary, irrigation should be given before planting to ensure adequate moisture. Recycling of summer mung bean residues (*Vigna radiata*) through rotary tillers and cropping systems increases system productivity, profitability, and soil health [8]. Crop residue incorporation in organic fields with the help of tillage techniques is also a good approach for management of fertilizer needs of crops and improves organic matter content of the soil.

#### **3.5 Geometric planting**

The optimal space needed depends on the type of crop, the variety, the planting season, and the cropping system. Most short-lived legumes need a small space, while long-term varieties work well with a larger space. Appropriate planting densities in fields and vegetables lead to better use of solar radiation to turn into higher yields. Planting in the first week of June will have the highest percentage of pods or seeds in grain legumes. Tighter and wider gap performance in different varieties and sowing after this date have reduced grain yield [9]. Growing green peas at a distance of 20 cm × 10 cm is more sufficient to get good yield benefits [10]. In general, Kharif cultivation requires greater spacing and a smaller plant population than summer crops due to relatively warm temperatures, long vegetative growth, and abundant branching.

#### **3.6 Seed priming**

Seed soaking in water for 10–12 hours and shade drying enhances germination percentage and early emergence under rainfed cropping. The seed priming in organic farming refers to soaking the seed in organic liquids. In the broadcast method, the established seed was low so seed soaking and priming a good tool to achieve the desired yield. Gupta and Bhowmick [11] stated that the sowing of presprouted seeds significantly increased the pod number per plant, seed per pod, and test weight in Lathyrus.

#### **3.7 Nutrient management strategies in organic legume production**

No doubt, legumes are a very important food crop to improve human nutrition having high protein and nutrient content. Biological response of legumes to plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) or bio-fertilizers is an effective and environmentally safe approach to reduce dependence on chemical and inorganic fertilizers

**83**

implemented.

in organic legumes.

*Organic Grain Legumes in India: Potential Production Strategies, Perspective, and Relevance*

causing soil pollution. Phosphorous (P) deficiency in soil is often a major factor in poor legume productivity. The productivity of legumes can be significantly increased by applying P based on soil analysis information. P applied to legumes can produce residual effects up to a limit of 20 to 35 kg P2O5 ha−1. Seeding or seed application with P-soluble organisms such as PSB and PSF increases P-useefficiency. The level of response to applied P can be further improved by timely management, planting, and source used, maintain optimal plant populations, maintain adequate moisture, low pest incidence, and weed control effectively [12]. Treating seed with bio-fertilizer (rhizobia) can increase legume productivity by 10–12%. The combined use of microbial cultures, such as rhizobium and P based biofertilizer (VAM), leads to higher seed yields of the crop than rhizobia cultures alone. Although good results have been achieved at the research stations, the adaptability of integrated nutrient management (INM) technologies to farmers at the farm level is during early phases of organic farm formations. More attention should be paid to the development and identification of suitable bio-fertilizer strains for major legume systems for different agronomic conditions through integrated methods developed by agronomists, biologists, and microbiologists. The availability of biofertilizer is easy and at cheap rates to the organic farms so better adaptability by farmers to this technology of nutrient management [13]. Several studies have shown that spraying panchgavya at 3% helps improve plant growth because it contains micro and macronutrients and favorable growth hormones. The enzyme in panchagavya promotes rapid cell division and multiplication, helping to improve plant growth patterns. Kumaravelu and Kadambian [14] reported that spraying panchgavya (3%) 10 days after planting (DAS) significantly increased the growth of Greengram plants, resulting in higher grain yield. Several other liquid organic manures such as jeevamrit are also a good option for nutrient management

**3.8 Organic pest and disease management in organic grain legumes**

The main issue is the organic management of insects and pests in organic farming. Natural predators should be encouraged and protected (for example, farming trees on farms that attract pests and insects, etc.). Products collected from local farms, animals, plants, and microorganisms and prepared on the farm can control pests. Extracts from neem seed core (NSKE), cow urine sprays are beneficial for pest control. Products authorized to control pests are neem oil and other neem preparations such as NSKE, color traps, mechanical traps, pheromone traps, herbal remedies, mild soaps, and clay, etc. A mixture of 3–5 L cow urine and an equal amount of manure (3–5 kg) stored for 4 days and filtered it. Add 200 g of lime and obtain up to 80 L and spray along with cow's milk in legumes control mosaic, a type of viral diseases (also called yellow mosaic virus) in which whey acts as a good barrier for reducing transmission of YMV [2]. Legumes are susceptible to pests and diseases. Productive losses due to the absence of plant protection measures vary from 46 to 96% depending on the crop and variety in legumes and further in case of organic legumes it can be increased up to complete crop failure. Integrated pest management (IPM) in legumes includes the use of resistant varieties, crop rotation with non-host plants, etc. also a good approach in the management of diseases and pests on organic farms. In Arunachal Pradesh, straw humus reduced the incidence of Ascorobta on peas as mulch application by regulating temperature and humidity [15]. Caterpillars are the most devastating legume insect due to favorable weather conditions. So regular inspections of farms on a daily or weekly basis were

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93077*

#### *Organic Grain Legumes in India: Potential Production Strategies, Perspective, and Relevance DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93077*

causing soil pollution. Phosphorous (P) deficiency in soil is often a major factor in poor legume productivity. The productivity of legumes can be significantly increased by applying P based on soil analysis information. P applied to legumes can produce residual effects up to a limit of 20 to 35 kg P2O5 ha−1. Seeding or seed application with P-soluble organisms such as PSB and PSF increases P-useefficiency. The level of response to applied P can be further improved by timely management, planting, and source used, maintain optimal plant populations, maintain adequate moisture, low pest incidence, and weed control effectively [12]. Treating seed with bio-fertilizer (rhizobia) can increase legume productivity by 10–12%. The combined use of microbial cultures, such as rhizobium and P based biofertilizer (VAM), leads to higher seed yields of the crop than rhizobia cultures alone. Although good results have been achieved at the research stations, the adaptability of integrated nutrient management (INM) technologies to farmers at the farm level is during early phases of organic farm formations. More attention should be paid to the development and identification of suitable bio-fertilizer strains for major legume systems for different agronomic conditions through integrated methods developed by agronomists, biologists, and microbiologists. The availability of biofertilizer is easy and at cheap rates to the organic farms so better adaptability by farmers to this technology of nutrient management [13]. Several studies have shown that spraying panchgavya at 3% helps improve plant growth because it contains micro and macronutrients and favorable growth hormones. The enzyme in panchagavya promotes rapid cell division and multiplication, helping to improve plant growth patterns. Kumaravelu and Kadambian [14] reported that spraying panchgavya (3%) 10 days after planting (DAS) significantly increased the growth of Greengram plants, resulting in higher grain yield. Several other liquid organic manures such as jeevamrit are also a good option for nutrient management in organic legumes.
