Peas
Pisum sativum
A cool-season legume that fixes its own nitrogen — inoculate the seed with Rhizobium and it needs barely any starter fertiliser. The whole game is sowing early into the cool weather for a long picking window, and beating powdery mildew, which arrives as the season warms.
- Crop type
- Vegetable legume (pulse)
- Season
- Rabi (cool season)
- Suitable states
- 12+ major states
- Growing duration
- 90–110 days (green pod)
- Water requirement
- Low–moderate
- Temperature
- 10–18°C
- Soil type
- Well-drained loam
- Difficulty level
- Easy
- Expected yield
- 80–120 q/ha (green pods)
- Key practice
- Rhizobium seed inoculation
Overview
Garden pea (Pisum sativum) is India’s most important cool-season legume vegetable, grown across the northern plains and hills as a rabi crop and prized for the fresh green pod.
Its defining trait is nitrogen fixation: with the roots inoculated by Rhizobium bacteria, the crop makes most of its own nitrogen and needs only a small starter dose — over-feeding it nitrogen actually backfires, giving lush vine and few pods.
Two decisions shape the crop. Sow early, into the first reliable cool weather, for a long picking window before the heat forces the crop to rush; and stay ahead of powdery mildew, the disease that whitens the vines as the season warms and cuts pod fill. This guide follows both through.
Crop timeline, sowing to harvest
A quick visual map of the season — jump to any section below for the detail behind each stage.
- Day 0
Sowing
Rhizobium-inoculated seed drilled 3–5 cm deep at 30 cm rows into a firm, moist bed.
- Day 7–10
Emergence
Seedlings emerge; a good, even stand from properly split-free garden-pea seed sets the crop up.
- Day 25–35
Vegetative growth & nodulation
Vines grow and root nodules form and turn pink — the plant is now making its own nitrogen.
- Day 40–55
Flowering
The crop flowers over a cool spell; steady moisture now decides how many pods set.
- Day 55–70
Pod development
Pods fill; powdery mildew pressure rises as the weather warms and must be watched.
- Day 65–90
Green-pod picking
Well-filled but still tender, bright-green pods are picked over several rounds.
- Day 100–120
Dry harvest (seed crop)
If left for dry seed, the crop matures and dries down for threshing.
Suitable states
States where this crop is grown at scale, highlighted below. Your local Krishi Vigyan Kendra is still the final word for your specific block.
- Jammu and Kashmir
- Himachal Pradesh
- Punjab
- Uttarakhand
- Haryana
- Delhi
- Uttar Pradesh
- Rajasthan
- Bihar
- Jharkhand
- West Bengal
- Sikkim
- Assam
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Meghalaya
- Nagaland
- Manipur
- Mizoram
- Tripura
- Gujarat
- Madhya Pradesh
- Chhattisgarh
- Maharashtra
- Odisha
- Goa
- Telangana
- Andhra Pradesh
- Karnataka
- Kerala
- Tamil Nadu
- Puducherry
- Ladakh
- Chandigarh
Grown here
Climate requirements
Peas are a cool-season crop — the cooler the flowering and pod-fill period, the better. Sowing early into reliable cool weather gives a longer, more productive window; sown late into rising warmth, the crop flowers in a rush, pods stay thin, and mildew arrives sooner.
Ideal temperature
10–18°C is ideal; growth and pod set suffer above 25°C and hard frost damages flowers
Rainfall
A dry, cool season on light irrigation suits it best; rain at flowering causes flower drop and disease
Humidity
Low to moderate; warm humid spells bring on powdery mildew
Sunlight
Full sun in cool weather for strong vines and good pod fill
Soil requirements
Being a legume, peas leave the soil richer in nitrogen for the following crop. Avoid waterlogged and strongly acidic soils, where the Rhizobium nodules fail and the nitrogen-fixing advantage is lost.
Suitable soil
Well-drained loam and sandy loam
pH range
6.0–7.5 — nodulation is poor on strongly acidic soils
Drainage
Good drainage is essential; peas are very sensitive to waterlogging, which rots roots and nodules
Organic matter
Moderate; peas respond to residual fertility from the previous crop more than heavy manuring
Land preparation
Same four steps whichever region you are in — only the timing shifts with the sowing window.
- 1
Firm, moist seedbed
Two ploughings and planking to a fine, firm bed with enough moisture for even germination.
- 2
Rhizobium inoculation
Coat the seed with pea-group Rhizobium culture (and PSB) in the shade just before sowing — this, not urea, is the crop’s nitrogen.
- 3
Light basal fertiliser
Apply a small starter dose of nitrogen with full phosphorus and potash basally — heavy nitrogen is counter-productive.
Seed information
How the main varieties compare, so you can pick by duration, yield, disease pressure or what you are growing for.
| Variety | Duration | Yield | Disease resistance | Best state | Suitable for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arkel Popular early European variety with sweet, well-filled pods for the fresh market. | 60–70 days to green pod | Medium | Susceptible to powdery mildew | Uttar Pradesh | Early crop, fresh market |
Pusa Pragati (Early Badger) Early, dwarf variety with dark-green pods, widely grown in the plains. | 60–70 days | Medium | Moderate | Punjab | Early crop, plains |
Kashi Nandini IIVR variety with good pod set and uniform maturity for the main season. | 70–80 days | Medium–high | Moderate | Uttar Pradesh | Main season, fresh market |
Pant Matar / Azad Matar State-university main-season varieties with reliable yields across the north. | 80–95 days | High | Moderate | Uttarakhand | Main season, higher yield |
Powdery-mildew-resistant lines (e.g. Pusa Prabhal, VL Ageti) Improved varieties bred for resistance to the crop’s main disease. | 80–100 days | High | Resistant to powdery mildew | Himachal Pradesh | Late crop, mildew-prone areas |
- Seed rate
- 80–100 kg/ha for green-pea garden types (higher than field pea because the seed is large and stands are dense)
- Certified seed
- In mildew-prone areas or for a late crop, choose a powdery-mildew-resistant variety — it is the cheapest possible protection against the crop’s main disease. Always inoculate the seed with fresh, in-date Rhizobium culture.
- Spacing
- 30 cm between rows × 8–10 cm within the row
- Seed treatment
- Treat seed with Thiram or Carbendazim against seed rots, then inoculate with Rhizobium (and PSB) just before sowing — apply the fungicide first and the culture last so it is not killed.
Sowing guide
Timing is the biggest lever. Early sowing into cool weather gives a long, productive picking window; late sowing pushes flowering into warmth, where pods stay thin and powdery mildew arrives early. Do not sow so early that flowering meets hard frost.
- Best time
- October–November in the plains; earlier at higher elevations — sow into the first reliable cool weather
- Row spacing
- 30 cm
- Plant spacing
- 8–10 cm within the row
- Sowing depth
- 3–5 cm
- Method
- Drill or dibble inoculated seed into a moist bed and firm the soil over it
Fertilizer schedule
A split dose beats one large dose applied at sowing — nitrogen especially is lost to the air and to leaching if it all goes in on day one.
- 1
Basal (at sowing)
Day 0
A small starter of nitrogen with full phosphorus and potash — around 20 N : 50 P₂O₅ : 40 K₂O kg/ha; the crop fixes the rest of its nitrogen itself.
- 2
Rhizobium & PSB
Seed treatment
Seed inoculation is the crop’s main nitrogen and phosphorus-availability input — treat it as essential, not optional.
- 3
Avoid extra nitrogen
Vegetative
Resist top-dressing nitrogen — excess gives lush vine and delays and reduces pod set. A foliar spray only if plants are visibly starved.
Irrigation schedule
1. Pre-sowing / germination
Day 0
Sow into moisture or give a light irrigation for even emergence.
2. Flowering
40–55 days
The most critical irrigation — moisture stress at flowering directly cuts pod number.
3. Pod development
55–70 days
A second key irrigation to fill the pods; keep it light and avoid waterlogging.
Critical stages
- Flowering
- Pod filling
Water-saving tips
- Peas need little water — two well-timed irrigations at flowering and pod fill do most of the work.
- Avoid over-irrigation, which rots roots and nodules and worsens disease.
- Sowing into residual moisture after a well-watered previous crop saves an irrigation.
Weed management
Common weeds
Organic control
- One or two hand weedings up to 30–40 days, before the vines close the canopy and shade out later weeds.
- A dense, early-sown stand competes well with weeds on its own.
Chemical control
- Pre-emergence Pendimethalin 1.0 kg a.i./ha on moist soil after sowing controls early weeds in a low-growing crop.
- One hand weeding at 30 days keeps the crop clean during its critical growth.
Nutrient deficiency identification
What a shortage of each nutrient actually looks like on the plant, so you can tell a deficiency apart from a disease before you spray the wrong thing.
Phosphorus
Visible symptom
Stunted plants with dull, dark-green to purplish leaves and poor nodulation — peas are especially phosphorus-responsive.
Molybdenum
Visible symptom
Pale plants with poor nodule function — molybdenum is needed for nitrogen fixation, worst on acidic soils.
Boron
Visible symptom
Hollow, cracked stems and poor pod set on deficient soils.
Magnesium
Visible symptom
Interveinal yellowing of older leaves with green veins, on light soils.
Nitrogen (rare)
Visible symptom
General paling only where nodulation has failed — the fix is better inoculation, not more urea.
Diseases to watch for
Symptoms, likely cause and what actually treats it — not just a spray name.
Powdery mildew
- Symptoms
- A white powdery growth spreading over leaves, stems and pods, usually late in the season, causing early leaf death and poorly filled pods.
- Cause
- Erysiphe pisi, favoured by warm days and cool nights as the season warms.
- Treatment
- Spray wettable sulphur or a systemic fungicide such as Hexaconazole at first appearance and repeat as needed.
- Prevention
- Grow a resistant variety and sow early so the crop pods before the mildew-favourable warm weather sets in.
Rust
- Symptoms
- Brown to black powdery pustules on leaves and stems, worst in humid weather, weakening the plant.
- Cause
- Uromyces fabae, favoured by humid conditions.
- Treatment
- Spray Mancozeb or a recommended fungicide at first appearance.
- Prevention
- Avoid dense, late crops; use tolerant varieties and rotate.
Fusarium wilt
- Symptoms
- Yellowing, wilting and death of plants in patches; the vascular tissue browns.
- Cause
- Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. pisi, soil-borne and persistent.
- Treatment
- No in-crop cure; rogue out affected plants.
- Prevention
- Use resistant varieties, treat seed and rotate away from peas for several years.
Ascochyta blight / root rot complex
- Symptoms
- Dark leaf and stem lesions or foot rot and damping-off, worst in cool, wet soils.
- Cause
- Ascochyta and root-rot fungi, seed- and soil-borne.
- Treatment
- Remove affected plants; the complex is hard to cure once established.
- Prevention
- Use treated, disease-free seed, ensure drainage and rotate crops.
Pests to watch for
What to look for before the damage is visible, and organic options before you reach for a chemical.
Pod borer
- Identification
- Caterpillars (Helicoverpa and Etiella) that bore into pods and eat the developing green peas, leaving entry holes and frass.
- Damage
- Direct loss of the marketable pea inside the pod at the pod-fill stage.
- Organic control
- Pheromone traps, Bt or NPV sprays, and conserving natural enemies by avoiding early broad-spectrum sprays.
- Chemical control
- A recommended insecticide at pod formation only if damage crosses threshold.
Pea leaf miner
- Identification
- Larvae that tunnel serpentine mines inside the leaf, leaving pale winding trails.
- Damage
- Mined leaves lose photosynthetic area; heavy attack weakens the plant.
- Organic control
- Remove and destroy heavily mined leaves and conserve parasitoids by avoiding routine sprays.
- Chemical control
- A recommended insecticide only when mining is severe and widespread.
Aphids
- Identification
- Soft green or black insects clustering on growing tips and pods.
- Damage
- Sap loss and honeydew that fouls the crop; they can also spread viruses.
- Organic control
- Neem oil sprays, yellow sticky traps and conserving ladybirds.
- Chemical control
- A recommended insecticide when colonies build on tips and pods.
Thrips
- Identification
- Tiny slender insects in flowers, causing silvering and distorted pods.
- Damage
- Poor pod set and blemished pods under heavy attack.
- Organic control
- Blue sticky traps and neem sprays.
- Chemical control
- A recommended insecticide at flowering if thrips are numerous.
Common mistakes to avoid
The mistakes that cost growers the most, ranked by how often they show up in the field — not in the order you might expect.
- 1
Not inoculating the seed with Rhizobium.
Why it hurts
Without nodules the crop cannot fix its own nitrogen, so it either goes hungry or forces you to spend on urea that a free seed treatment would have saved.
- 2
Top-dressing the crop with nitrogen "to green it up".
Why it hurts
Excess nitrogen gives lush vine and delays and reduces flowering and pod set — the crop looks good but yields few pods.
- 3
Sowing late into rising warmth.
Why it hurts
The crop rushes to flower, pods stay thin, and powdery mildew arrives early — early sowing into cool weather is the single biggest yield lever.
- 4
Ignoring powdery mildew until the vines whiten.
Why it hurts
By the time the crop is visibly white the pods are already poorly filled; a resistant variety or an early sulphur spray prevents most of the loss.
- 5
Over-irrigating.
Why it hurts
Peas hate wet feet — waterlogging rots the roots and nodules, kills the nitrogen fixation and worsens root rot and wilt.
- 6
Skimping on phosphorus.
Why it hurts
Peas are strongly phosphorus-responsive and nodulate poorly without it; underdosing phosphorus caps the whole crop.
- 7
Picking green pods too late.
Why it hurts
Left on the vine, the sugars turn to starch and the peas go hard and floury, losing sweetness and market grade — pick when pods are well-filled but still tender.
- 8
Growing peas after peas or other pulses.
Why it hurts
Wilt and root-rot fungi build up in the soil until the crop fails in patches — rotate with a cereal.
- 9
Sowing so early that flowering meets hard frost.
Why it hurts
A severe frost at flowering kills the flowers and drops the pod set — time the sowing so flowering falls in cool but frost-safe weather.
- 10
Using old, out-of-date Rhizobium culture.
Why it hurts
A dead culture gives no nodules — inoculation only works with fresh, in-date, correctly stored culture applied in the shade.
Harvesting
For fresh market, pick when pods are well-filled, bright green and still tender — before the peas turn starchy and the pod dulls, usually 60–90 days after sowing depending on variety. Pick over several rounds as pods mature. For seed, leave the crop to dry down fully.
Signs it is ready
- Pods well-filled and rounded
- Pods still bright green and tender
- Peas sweet, not starchy, when tasted
Tools
- Hand picking into baskets
- Bags or crates for gentle handling
- Shade for holding before market
Expected yield
80–120 q/ha of green pods for a well-managed crop; 12–18 q/ha as dry seed
Post-harvest & storage
Storage
Fresh green peas are highly perishable — the sugars turn to starch within a day at room temperature, so cool them fast and move them quickly. They keep about a week near 0°C with high humidity.
Packaging
Pack green pods loosely in ventilated bags or crates and keep them cool and shaded.
Transportation
Move to market the same day; a day’s delay in the warm loses both sweetness and grade.
Shelf life
A day or two at room temperature; about a week cold — best sold the day of picking.
Market prices
Today's mandi price near you, pulled live from the government's own Agmarknet data.
Live daily mandi prices from the government Agmarknet dataset.
Synced from data.gov.in (Agmarknet). Rates are ₹ per quintal.
Weather
Current conditions and a 5-day outlook for your selected location, with one line of stage-aware advice.
Pick your state for current conditions and a 5-day outlook.
Live data from Open-Meteo
Profit calculator
Your own cost sheet, expected yield and selling price — not ours.
Where the money goes
Share of the total cost per acre, using the calculator’s own default cost sheet below — adjust the numbers there to match your field and this picture will no longer apply to you exactly, but the ranking rarely changes.
- Labour27% (₹10,000)
- Land rent24% (₹9,000)
- Seed16% (₹6,000)
- Fertiliser8% (₹3,000)
- Pesticide & weedicide7% (₹2,500)
- Machinery7% (₹2,500)
- Irrigation7% (₹2,500)
- Interest4% (₹1,500)
Official downloads
Government and ICAR documents only — everything below is hosted on an official server.
Frequently asked questions
Do peas really need Rhizobium inoculation?
Yes — it is the single most valuable and cheapest input for the crop. Peas fix their own nitrogen through Rhizobium bacteria in root nodules, so coating the seed with fresh pea-group culture before sowing gives the crop most of its nitrogen for free. Apply the fungicide seed treatment first and the culture last, in the shade, so the bacteria stay alive.
Why did my pea crop grow lush but set few pods?
The commonest cause is too much nitrogen. Because peas fix their own nitrogen, extra urea gives leafy, vigorous vine at the expense of flowering and pod set. Give only a small starter dose of nitrogen, rely on Rhizobium for the rest, and make sure phosphorus is adequate — that balance is what fills pods.
How do I prevent powdery mildew in peas?
Two ways. First, grow a powdery-mildew-resistant variety, especially for a late crop or in a mildew-prone area. Second, sow early so the crop flowers and fills its pods in cool weather, before the warm days and cool nights that favour the disease. If mildew appears, spray wettable sulphur or a systemic fungicide at the first white patches.
When is the best time to sow peas?
October–November in the plains, and earlier in the hills — sow into the first reliable cool weather. Early sowing gives a long, productive picking window and lets the crop pod before mildew and heat arrive. Avoid sowing so early that flowering coincides with hard frost, which damages the flowers.
When should I pick green peas?
Pick when the pods are well-filled and rounded but still bright green and tender, and the peas taste sweet rather than starchy — usually over several rounds as pods mature. Left too long, the sugars turn to starch and the peas go hard and floury, losing both sweetness and price.
Does peas have an MSP?
Green garden peas, sold as a fresh vegetable, have no Minimum Support Price — the price is set by mandi demand and supply and swings with the season. Use the live mandi prices and profit calculator on this page to judge when to sell. (Dry field pea is a separate pulse with its own market.)
Still have questions?
The FAQs above cover the common ones. For anything specific to your field and soil, your nearest Krishi Vigyan Kendra is the authoritative answer.