What is the right time to seed pulse crops?
Lentil, pea and desi chickpea can be seeded early (late April to early May) as long as the top 2.5 cm (1 in.) of the soil has reached 5 oC. They can tolerate light frost (-4 to -6 oC). Kabuli Chickpea should be seeded mid May when soil temperatures of 10 oC have been attained in the top 5 cm (2 in.) of the soil. Dry beans should be seeded in late May when frost risk is low and soil temperature at seeding depth has reached a minimum of 12 oC. These guidelines are not a guarantee that early seeded crops will survive any late spring frost. Frost survival depends on how low the temperature gets, how long the freezing conditions last, how much cold conditioning the crop received, moisture content and the growth stage of the crop when frost hits. Table 2 shows survival rates of beans and field pea at four different stages and freezing temperatures. The survival of the crop after a frost also depends on the crop’s ability to regenerate itself. For instance, even if the frost is severe enough
