Arkel
The earliest common garden pea — first to the market, which is exactly why it commands the early-season price.
Quick facts
- Crop
- Peas
- Type
- Open-pollinated
- Season
- Rabi
- Maturity period
- 60–65 days
- Expected yield
- 80–100 q/ha (green pods)
- Suitable soil
- Loam
- Disease resistance
- Susceptible to powdery mildew in a late crop
- Release
- Brought from England and released for commercial cultivation through IARI, New Delhi. The national list of notified varieties (2015) gives 1977 as its year of release and shows it notified on 23 March 1978 (S.O. 1004).
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
Arkel is one of the oldest and most widely grown early garden peas in India. It was brought from England and released for commercial cultivation through IARI, New Delhi. The national list of notified varieties gives 1977 as its year of release and 23 March 1978 as its notification date. The plant is a dwarf, about 45–60 cm tall. The pods are sickle-shaped and well filled, with 7–9 sweet seeds that wrinkle at maturity, and a medium length of 8–10 cm. The first picking comes around 60 days, and an India Inputs variety roundup gives 55–60 days. The card shows 60–65 days. Arkel is one of only a handful of imported pea varieties, with Bonneville and the India-bred Rachna, still widely grown decades later, while most other 1970s imports have been replaced by newer lines.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose Arkel if you want to be first at the market. Of the nine peas here only Azad Matar picks earlier in the plains, and Arkel is the one every dealer stocks and every buyer recognises — an imported variety from the 1970s that outlasted almost all the others brought in with it. The early price is the whole case, because on weight it sits mid-pack at 80–100 q/ha, and the two varieties usually quoted above it are softer than they look: Bonneville's 90–110 q/ha is contradicted by a national checklist figure of 65–70, and Kashi Nandini's 110–120 is its release figure against 75–80 on that same checklist. The real catch is mildew — a late-sown crop gets powdery mildew, and Arkel has no resistance to it, so sow on time or choose a resistant variety. Choose Bonneville for a mid-season crop. Choose Rachna if mildew is your problem. Choose Pusa Pragati if you want an early crop with mildew resistance.
Sowing & cultivation
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- The earliest of the common garden pea varieties, which is why farmers plant it for the early-season price.
- A first picking at about 60 days, close to the 60–65 days on the card. Two sources give nearly the same figure.
Things to consider
- The national list of notified varieties (2015) gives 1977 as Arkel's year of release and 23 March 1978 as its notification date. That fits the 1970s England-to-India introduction that other summaries describe.
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Uttar Pradesh
- Punjab
- Haryana
- Bihar
Early price: sow backwards from the first pick
Arkel's whole case is the early-season price. That window is short, so a week lost in sowing can be a week of price lost.
Pick the date you want to first sell. Take away about 60 days. That is your latest sowing date. Sow on that date or a few days before it, and no later.
A late sowing also meets the weather that brings powdery mildew. If you cannot sow on time, plant Rachna for the mid-season market instead.
Can you keep your own planting material?
This is an open-pollinated variety, so seed from a healthy crop of your own can be sown again. Keep seed only from disease-free plants, dry it properly, store it cool and dry, and bring in fresh certified seed every three to four years so the variety does not drift.
How it compares with other varieties
Every Peas variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.
| Variety | Best for | Maturity | Yield | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arkelthis page | The earliest common garden pea, for the early-season price, sown in time to dodge late-crop powdery mildew | 60–65 days | 80–100 q/ha (green pods) | Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Bihar |
| Azad Matar | A sweet, tender, long dark-green-pod garden pea from CSAUAT Kanpur (Azad P-1), for Uttar Pradesh fresh sale with a mildew plan | About 53 days to first picking in one Prayagraj plains trial; about 120 days in hill trials | High | Uttar Pradesh |
| Bonneville | A main-season, taller garden pea for the mid-season market, also suited to dehydration | 75–80 days | 65–110 q/ha (green pods; sources differ) | Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh |
| Kashi Nandini | An early-maturing, ICAR-IIVR garden pea with good pod set, notified for nine states from Jammu & Kashmir to Kerala | 70–80 days | 75–120 q/ha (sources differ) | Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala |
| Pant Matar | An early GBPUAT Pantnagar garden pea (Pant Matar 2) that matches Arkel's days and gives about 10% more pods, for the northern hills and plains | About 60 days to first picking | About 100 q/ha (green pods; some reports lower) | Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand |
| Pusa Prabhal | A wilt-and-mildew-resistant, double-podded garden pea for land with Fusarium wilt or powdery mildew trouble | 80–100 days | ~138 q/ha | Himachal Pradesh |
| Pusa Pragati (Early Badger) | An early, powdery-mildew-resistant IARI garden pea with long 10 cm pods and 9 seeds per pod, recommended for all of India | 60–65 days to first picking | About 70 q/ha (green pods) | Punjab |
| Rachna | A powdery-mildew-resistant mid-season pea bred at CSAUAT Kanpur, for green pods or dry seed | 85–90 days | 100–120 q/ha (green pods) | Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh |
| VL Ageti | An early, dwarf ICAR-VPKAS garden pea (VL-7) for the hills of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand | About 120–125 days to first picking (hill sowing) | High | Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand |
Tools for this crop
The numbers you need next: how much seed to buy, whether the lot germinates, what the fertilizer bill looks like and what Peas is selling for.
- Seed Rate CalculatorHow much seed your Peas plot needs, corrected for the germination of the lot you bought.
- Germination CalculatorTest 100 seeds from the bag before sowing and see whether the lot is fit to sow.
- Seed Variety FinderFilter every Peas variety on this site by state, season, duration and soil.
- Fertilizer CalculatorTurn the NPK recommendation for Peas into bags of urea, DAP and MOP for your field size.
- Crop CalendarMonth-by-month sowing, weeding, irrigation and harvest dates for Peas in your state.
- Crop Profit CalculatorPut your seed, labour and input costs against the yield you expect from this variety.
- Mandi Price CheckerToday's Peas rate in your nearest mandi, before you fix a price with a trader.
Subsidy and government support
Schemes that help with the cost of Peas seed or planting material. Rules and the application route are on each scheme page.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Arkel still grown decades after its introduction, despite newer Indian-bred varieties existing?
Sources describe it as one of only a handful of exotic-origin pea introductions — alongside Bonneville and, later, the India-bred Rachna — that farmers have kept growing continuously because nothing since has beaten its combination of earliness and market timing; most other 1970s exotic introductions have since been displaced.
How does Arkel's duration compare across sources?
An India Inputs roundup gives 55–60 days, and an agronomy summary gives first picking at 60 days. GBPUAT Pantnagar's seed catalogue says pods are ready in 55–60 days with 100–125 q/ha, and the IARI-based national checklist gives 75–80 q/ha in 50–55 days. The card shows 60–65 days and 80–100 q/ha. Plan on about 60 days, and check your own first pick date and yield.
Arkel or Bonneville: which should I sow?
Arkel is the early one (60–65 days, 80–100 q/ha) and sells at the early-season price. Bonneville is a main-season, late-maturing, taller type (75–80 days, 90–110 q/ha) for the mid-season market. If you can sow both, you spread your picking. If you have one block, pick by which market window you can reach.
Arkel or Rachna if mildew is a problem?
Rachna. It was bred to add the powdery mildew resistance its parent T 163 lacked, and it gives 100–120 q/ha in 85–90 days. Arkel is susceptible to powdery mildew in a late crop. You give up some earliness with Rachna. If your sowing is early enough, Arkel can still escape the worst of the mildew.
Why is a late Arkel crop riskier?
The card says Arkel is susceptible to powdery mildew in a late crop. Early sowing means the pods are picked before the disease builds up. If you sow late, expect mildew, watch the leaves and follow your state horticulture department's spray advice, or choose Rachna instead.
Can I save Arkel seed?
Yes. It is an open-pollinated variety, so seed from your own healthy plants will give plants like the parent. Save from the first, well-filled pods of healthy plants and never from a patch hit by mildew.
What do Arkel pods look like when I take them to market?
Medium pods of 8–10 cm, sickle-shaped, well filled, tender and sweet, with 7–9 seeds. The plant is a dwarf, about 45–60 cm tall. The sweet taste and tender pods are what sell at the early-season price, so pick on time, before the pods get hard.
Sourced from: Top 10 Famous Pea Varieties in India — India Inputs, Kitchen Seeds (garden pea varieties) — GBPUAT Pantnagar Seeds, Checklist of Commercial Varieties of Vegetables (pea section) — TNAU Agritech Portal. editorial policy.