The Organic
Revival
Pulses · Legume

Growing moong

Vigna radiata · also called moongGreen gram, a short pulse grown for its small green grain. It is sown with the monsoon, and in the north also as a summer crop after wheat.

North-west plains: Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, western Uttar Pradesh

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Includes AI suggestions where no published guide covers a detail
Moong plant with young green pods and pale yellow flowers among its leaves
Photo: Dinesh Valke · CC BY-SA 4.0

At a glance

Moong in the North-west plains

  • Season

    Summer crop after wheat or potato, and a kharif crop in July2,3

  • Sowing to last picking

    PAU summer varieties mature in about 60 to 62 days and kharif varieties in about 71 to 72 days.2,3

  • Sow

    20 March to 10 April2,3

Across India

When to sow it

Twelve growing regions, January to December. Your region comes first.

Wait until March

The next sowing here is 20 March to 10 April.

  • Sow
  • Harvest
  • Today
  • Not suited here
North-west plainsPunjab, Haryana, DelhiSub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunTemperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, Kullu
Compare all 12 regions
Temperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, KulluCold desertLadakh, Lahaul and SpitiNot suited hereSub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunGangetic plainseastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal plainsNorth-east hills and valleysAssam, Meghalaya, SikkimArid westRajasthan, Kutch, north GujaratCentral plateauMadhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, VidarbhaDeccan plateauinterior Maharashtra, Telangana, north KarnatakaSouth interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduWest coastKerala, Goa, KonkanEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal Andhra
Today
See the dates as a table
RegionSowNurseryTransplantHarvest
North-west plains20 March to 10 AprilSecond half of July
Temperate HimalayaMid-May to JuneMid-August to September
Cold desertNot suited here
Sub-tropical foothillsMid-March to 20 AprilOnset of monsoon to mid-July
Gangetic plainsMid-March to mid-AprilLate June to early July
North-east hills and valleysLate June to JulySeptember
Arid westFirst to third week of July
Central plateauLate June to early JulyMarch
Deccan plateauFirst half of June to 7 July
South interiorJune to July (Adipattam)September to October (Purattasipattam)December to January (Margazhi-Thai pattam)
West coastSeptember to early October, after the first paddy cropJanuary to early February, after the second paddy crop
East coastJune to July (Adipattam)September to October (Purattasipattam)December to January (Margazhi-Thai pattam)Third week of January to second week of FebruaryFebruary to March

From seed to harvest

One season, day by day

Days from sowing

  1. Before sowing

    Ghanjeevamrit3

    4 quintals per acre · Mix into the soil two days before sowing · before sowing

  2. Day 0

    Sow

    Beejamrit

    Soak the seed for one acre in beejamrit for 30 minutes, dry it in the shade and sow

  3. Day 4 to 7

    Seeds come up1,2,3,4Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

  4. Day 25

    Jeevamrit

    200 litres per acre · Run it in with each irrigation · with each irrigation

Summer crop: 3 to 5 irrigations, depending on weather and soil. Give the first about 25 days after sowing and stop at about 55 days so the pods ripen together. Kharif crop: water only if the rains fail. Raised beds save water and protect the crop from heavy rain.2,3Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

What it needs

Soil, sun and warmth

  • Soil pH1,2,3Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

    6.5 to 7.5

    Well drained loam to sandy loam. Saline, alkaline or waterlogged soils do not suit it. In the Jammu region it grows on soils from sandy loam to heavy clay.

  • SunlightNo published guide covers this for the North-west plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

    At least 6 hours a day

    Full sun in an open field. It does poorly under shade.

  • Temperature1,2Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

    Grows best at 25 to 35 °C

    Frost: none tolerated.

    Monthly temperatures for the North-west plains aren't in the library yet.

Water and feeding

Watering2,3Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

Summer crop: 3 to 5 irrigations, depending on weather and soil. Give the first about 25 days after sowing and stop at about 55 days so the pods ripen together. Kharif crop: water only if the rains fail. Raised beds save water and protect the crop from heavy rain.

Weeding2,3

Hoe four weeks after sowing and again about two weeks later if needed.

WhenWhatHow muchHow
seed treatmentBeejamritSoak the seed for one acre in beejamrit for 30 minutes, dry it in the shade and sow
before sowingGhanjeevamrit4 quintals per acreMix into the soil two days before sowing
with each irrigationJeevamrit200 litres per acreRun it in with each irrigation

Sources3

Varieties and yield

Typical rangeNo published guide covers this for the North-west plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

4 to 5 quintals an acre

Yields vary with the plot, the seed and the season.

Varieties grown here2,3

  • SML 1827

    Summer; about 62 days; resistant to yellow mosaic

  • SML 832

    Summer; about 61 days

  • SML 668

    Summer; about 60 days; bold grain

  • ML 1808

    Kharif; about 71 days; resistant to yellow mosaic, cercospora and bacterial leaf spot

  • ML 2056

    Kharif; about 71 days; tolerant to yellow mosaic

  • ML 818

    Kharif; about 72 days; tolerant to yellow mosaic

Good neighbours1

Grows well with

Pests and diseases2,3

Organic and cultural controls only.

  • Pest

    Thrips

    Signs

    Tiny dark brown insects in the flowers make flowers drop and pods twist. A bad attack can ruin a summer crop.

    What to do

    • Put up blue sticky traps at flower initiation, 30 an acre, and replace after 10 days if needed
    • Or spray homemade neem extract at flower initiation (5 kg neem leaves and fruit boiled 30 minutes in 10 litres of water, then strained)

  • Pest

    Whitefly, jassid and aphid

    Signs

    They suck sap from leaves. Whitefly honeydew grows black sooty mould and the insect spreads yellow mosaic.

    What to do

    • Spray homemade neem extract when the pest appears; repeat after a week if needed

  • Pest

    Hairy caterpillar

    Signs

    Hairy caterpillars strip the leaves to the midribs, feeding in groups at first.

    What to do

    • Pull out infested plants with the young larvae and bury them
    • Hand pick and destroy grown caterpillars

  • Pest

    Tobacco caterpillar

    Signs

    Young larvae skeletonise the leaves in groups; older ones eat buds, flowers and pods.

    What to do

    • Collect and destroy egg masses and groups of young larvae with the leaves
    • Sow on time
    • Remove weeds that host the pest

  • Pest

    Pod borer

    Signs

    Larvae feed on leaves, flowers, pods and seeds; dark green droppings lie under the plants.

  • Disease

    Yellow mosaic

    Signs

    Irregular yellow and green patches on leaves; sick plants bear few pale pods. Worse in the kharif crop.

    What to do

    • Rogue out sick plants early in the season

    Prevention

    • Grow a tolerant variety such as ML 1808, ML 2056, ML 818 or SML 1827
    • Sow the summer crop on time

  • Disease

    Cercospora leaf spot

    Signs

    Round brown spots that merge and make leaves drop; spread by on-and-off rain.

    Prevention

    • Grow a resistant variety such as ML 1808, ML 2056 or ML 818

  • Disease

    Bacterial leaf spot

    Signs

    Round to irregular brown spots on leaves.

    Prevention

    • Use seed from a healthy crop
    • Grow ML 1808, ML 2056 or ML 818

  • Disease

    Web blight

    Signs

    Tops of plants blight in patches, with white web-like growth in humid weather.

    Prevention

    • Keep the field free of weeds, which carry the disease

  • Disease

    Root rot

    Signs

    Dark lesions on leaves, stems and roots; tissue turns weak and shreds.

Seed and the season's end

Saving seed1,2Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

Keep seed from a healthy field with no yellow mosaic. Pull out sick plants early.

When the seed is ready

Harvest when about 80% of the pods are mature, or when the leaves drop and most pods turn greyish black.

Cleaning the seed

Cut the plants with a sickle rather than uprooting them, dry them and thresh.

Dry the grain well and store it in clean, closed bins. Watch for pulse beetle (dhora).

After the last picking3

After picking the pods of a summer crop, bury the plants a day before transplanting rice; this lets you cut the rice nitrogen by about a third.

After picking the pods of a summer crop, dig the plants into the soil before the next crop. PAU says burying the stover before rice cuts the nitrogen the rice needs by about a third.

Rotation

Fits after wheat or potato as a summer crop, and before wheat or raya as a kharif crop. PAU rotations include moong-wheat, summer moong-rice-potato and summer moong-maize-potato.

Sources

Where this comes from

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Reviewed by our team on 13 November 2026.

These published guides are the sources. Where none of them covers a detail for this region, the page shows an AI suggestion and labels it.

  1. 2Package of Practices for Crops of Punjab, Kharif 2026 (Moong)Punjab Agricultural University, LudhianaRead the source
  2. 3Package of Practices for Crops of Punjab, Rabi 2025-26 (Summer moong; natural farming; multiple cropping)Punjab Agricultural University, LudhianaRead the source
  3. 4TNAU Agritech Portal: Crop production, Pulses, GreengramTamil Nadu Agricultural University, CoimbatoreRead the source
  4. 5TNAU Agritech Portal: Organic package of practices for green gramTamil Nadu Agricultural University, CoimbatoreRead the source
  5. 6AESA based IPM package: Black gram (urd) and green gram (moong)National Institute of Plant Health Management (NIPHM), Hyderabad, with the Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage, Government of IndiaRead the source

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