Growing Food: A Guide to Food Production

Growth period: 80–100 days for early varieties, 125–180 days for later maturing
varieties.

Temperature: for germination the optimum is 18–21 C, minimum c.15 C. For
growth, the optimum is about 24°C though varies according to variety. Maximum
tolerated is about 30C.
Rainfall: the plants are moderately tolerant of drought, especially ssp. microsperma,
and survive long, hot summers. About 700 mm per year is usually enough, and pre-
harvest and harvest periods should be dry. Lentils are not well suited to the hot, wet
tropics.
Altitude: up to about 3500 m.
Pests: the most important are the gram caterpillar, white ants, gram cutworm and
weevils (which are also a storage insect problem with lentils).
Diseases: there are two important fungal diseases:

conditions.

• Wilt—the leaves curl and the root system develops poorly, especially in light, dry
  soil.
  Both diseases can be controlled with crop rotation, seed dressing, use of resistant
  varieties and destroying the diseased haulm.

YIELD
As part of a mixed cropping system, lentils may only provide a few hundred kilos
per hectare, while pure stands even in relatively simple systems should yield at least
one metric tonne(MT)/ha. With adequate rainfall and proper cultivation techniques
a modern “improved” variety should give at least two MT/ha provided that disease
and insect attacks are kept under control.
FAO reported that the global average in 2004 was 966 kg/ha, from a high in
China of 2.5 MT/ha to a low of 100 kg/ha in Uzbekistan.

UTILISATION

• 56% carbohydrate, they are also more easily digested than most of the other
  legumes, and so can be invaluable in emergency feeding programmes. The split
  seed, known as dhal, is normally eaten in soups and porridges. Lentils are also a
  good source of Vitamin A (up to 200 IU/100 g), Vitamin B 1 and B 2 , iron


• 
  


• 
  


• 
  


• 
  


• 
  

°°

°

• Rust—the leaves and stems turn purple, and may die, especially in humid

and lower in fibre than the other legumes.

173

GROWTH CONDITIONS

Day length: most varieties are long-day plants, some are day-neutral.

Lentils are not only highly nutritious, containing about 25% protein, 1% fat and

(7 mg/100 g) and phosphorus.

The grain is a source of commercial starch, used in textiles and printing.

The flour can be mixed with cereal flours to make cake or bread, or invalid and

The young pods are sometimes eaten as a vegetable, in India for example.

organic matter.

The straw, or haulm, is a very nutritious animal food, being richer in proteins

The crop can be grown as a green manure, enriching the soil with Nitrogen and

baby food.

GROWING FOOD – THE FOOD PRODUCTION HANDBOOK