Tur (pigeonpea) in Vidarbha: what to check, and when, from sowing to harvest

When is tur sown in Vidarbha?

ICAR's Kharif 2025 advisory for Maharashtra puts sowing of early varieties in the first fortnight of June and of medium and late varieties in the second fortnight. The Marathwada part of the same advisory extends medium and late varieties into the first fortnight of July.

Tur is usually grown as an intercrop: ICAR suggests tur with soybean in 1:2 or 2:4 rows for Maharashtra, and an estimated 80 to 90 per cent of India's pigeonpea is intercropped (Directorate of Pulses Development). For drainage, Dr. PDKV suggests sowing on ridges and furrows, or opening furrows a month after sowing.

The first seven weeks: blight and standing water

Phytophthora blight: the risk rises in cloudy, drizzly weather around 25 °C when leaves stay wet for about 8 hours at a stretch. It attacks plants 1 to 7 weeks old, first in low-lying spots; plants are not infected after 60 days (ICRISAT handbook). Signs: water-soaked lesions on the stem, girdling, and stems that break in the wind.

Standing water: a few days of rain and cloud followed by sun is the worst pattern, and grown plants suffer more than seedlings (ICRISAT handbook). After rain, check the low strips for standing water.

Plants dying in patches: wilt and sterility mosaic

Wilt (Fusarium): mostly at flowering and podding, sometimes at 1 to 2 months. It is worse on black (Vertisol) soils. Signs: patches of dead plants, a purple band rising from the stem base, and continuous black streaks inside the stem when it is split lengthwise. Partial wilting of a plant is typical of wilt. The fungus survives about 3 years in crop debris (ICRISAT handbook).

In plants killed by waterlogging the streaks inside are reddish and broken, while in wilt they are black and continuous; splitting a stem shows the difference (ICRISAT handbook).

Sterility mosaic: spread by a tiny eriophyid mite. Infection within 45 days leaves the plant fully sterile. Signs: bushy, pale-green plants with small, clustered leaves and no flowers, in patches. The mite thrives at 20 to 30 °C and heavy rain is unfavourable to it. Last season's stubble and self-sown plants are the main source (Plants, 2024).

Flowering and pods: pod borer and pod fly

Pod borer (Helicoverpa): Dr. PDKV's economic threshold is 5 per cent pod damage; ICAR-IIPR puts it at 5 to 6 male moths per pheromone trap per night in the post-winter months. ICAR suggests 5 pheromone traps per hectare for monitoring in Maharashtra. One larva damages 20 to 25 pods in its life (ICAR-IIPR).

Pod fly: lays eggs on pods 15 to 20 days old, and attacks rise when the maximum temperature is above 27 °C and the minimum above 12 °C (ICAR-IIPR). Signs: pin-head holes in pods and shrivelled seeds inside (TNAU).

Flowering in cloudy monsoon weather leads to poor pod set and flower drop (Directorate of Pulses Development). Ask your KVK before any spray.

When to harvest tur

Harvest when two-thirds to three-quarters of the pods have turned brown. Dry the cut plants for 3 to 6 days, and bring seed moisture down to 9 to 10 per cent for storage (Directorate of Pulses Development).

What can the satellite tell you about tur?

The satellite shows where and when a field's greenness changed, for example a strip that turns paler than the rest. It does not identify wilt, sterility mosaic or a pod borer; it points to the strip and you check it on the ground.

Tur is sown in the cloudiest weeks of the monsoon: over one field near Katol, Sentinel-2 passed 23 times from July to September 2026 and saw the field clearly twice. Because tur is often intercropped, the early greenness is the two crops together. In weeks like these, our message says the field could not be seen.