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News: ICAR-CAZRI’s four new moth bean varieties showed strong resilience during the prolonged moisture stress in Kharif 2026.
About Cultivation of Moth Bean in India
- Moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia) is a drought-resistant, short-duration kharif pulse.
- Known as: It is commonly known as mat bean, Turkish gram and dew bean.
- Distribution: It is cultivated most extensively in the Thar Desert region of western Rajasthan, as well as parts of Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab.
- Agro-Climatic Requirements
- Climate: It grows well in arid and semi-arid regions and can withstand high temperatures without adversely affecting flowering or fruit development.
- Temperature: Its optimum growth and development occur at 25–37°C.
- Rainfall: It requires around 250–500 mm of rainfall.
- Soil: It prefers well-drained sandy-loam soils but can also grow on poor, light-textured soils with low organic matter, including sand dunes.
- Sowing period: Timely sowing is carried out with the onset of the monsoon in July.
- Key Features
- Drought and Heat Tolerance: It can withstand prolonged moisture stress and maintain growth under rainfed conditions.
- Developmental Plasticity: It is the ability of a plant to adjust its growth and maturity according to environmental conditions.
- In moth bean, it flowers at around 30 days after sowing and adjusts its growth and maturity according to available soil moisture, helping it adapt to changing rainfall conditions.
- Soil Conservation: Its prostrate, spreading canopy helps bind sandy soil and retain moisture in the rhizosphere.
Recent Development
- New Varieties: ICAR-CAZRI (Indian Council of Agricultural Research–Central Arid Zone Research Institute) has released four varieties –
- CAZRI Moth-4, CAZRI Moth-5, CAZRI Moth-6 and CAZRI Moth-7 – in the last three years.
- Moisture-Stress Resilience: During Kharif 2026, these varieties maintained good growth, green appearance and profuse pod development despite a prolonged moisture-stress period of around 35 days.
- Seed Multiplication: The seed is being multiplied by the Rajasthan State Seeds Corporation, National Seeds Corporation and selected private players.
