The Organic
Revival
Vegetables · Legume

Growing peas

Pisum sativum · also called MatarA cool season legume sown straight into the bed for its sweet green pods. It likes mild days, takes light frost while young and fixes its own nitrogen.

South interior: Bengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil Nadu

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
Green pea pods hanging on a pea plant among its leaves
Photo: Андрей Перцев · CC0

At a glance

Peas in the South interior

  • Season

    Sown in October to November or February to March4

  • Sowing to last picking

    First pods about 75 days after sowing, then a few weeks of picking.4

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

  • Sow

    October to November4

  • First harvest

    75 days after sowing4

Across India

When to sow it

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

Sow now

The window here is October to November.

Sowing now in:Temperate HimalayaSub-tropical foothillsNorth-west plainsGangetic plainsNorth-east hills and valleysArid westCentral plateauDeccan plateauEast coast
  • Sow
  • Harvest
  • Today
  • Not suited here
South interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal AndhraWest coastKerala, Goa, KonkanNot suited here
Compare all 12 regions
Temperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, KulluCold desertLadakh, Lahaul and SpitiSub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunNorth-west plainsPunjab, Haryana, DelhiGangetic 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 KarnatakaWest coastKerala, Goa, KonkanNot suited hereEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal Andhra
Today
See the dates as a table
RegionSowNurseryTransplantHarvest
South interiorOctober to NovemberFebruary to March
Temperate HimalayaOctober to NovemberMarch to JuneSeptember to October
Cold desertApril to MaySeptember to October
Sub-tropical foothillsLast week of OctoberMid-October to mid-November
North-west plainsMid-October to mid-November
Gangetic plainsOctober to November
North-east hills and valleysOctober to mid-November
Arid westMid-October to mid-November
Central plateauMid-October to November
Deccan plateauMid-October to November
West coastNot suited here
East coastOctober to November

From seed to harvest

One season, day by day

Days from sowing

  1. Before sowing

    Farmyard manure4

    20 t per hectare · Apply before sowing · basal

  2. Day 0

    Sow

  3. Day 7 to 14

    Seeds come up2,3,6Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

  4. Day 75

    First picking4

  5. Day 90 to 110

    Last picking4Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

Water once a week.4

What it needs

Soil, sun and warmth

  • Soil pH2,3,1,6

    6 to 7.5

    Well drained, fertile loam. Light soils suit an early crop and heavier soils a main season crop. It does poorly on acid soils below pH 5.5.

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

    At least 6 hours a day

    Full sun. Pick an open bed away from tall shade.

  • Temperature1,3,6

    Grows best at 10 to 18 °C

    Takes light frost.

    Monthly temperatures for the South interior aren't in the library yet.

Water and feeding

Watering4

Water once a week.

Weeding4

Weed 15 days after sowing, then as needed. Stake the plants 30 days after sowing.

WhenWhatHow muchHow
basalFarmyard manure20 t per hectareApply before sowing

Sources4

Varieties and yield

Typical range4

8 to 12 tonnes a hectare

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

Varieties grown here4,6

  • Ooty 1

  • Bonneville

  • Arkel

  • Azad

  • Kashi Nandini

    ICAR-IIVR lists it for Karnataka and Tamil Nadu

Good neighboursNo published guide covers this for the South interior, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Keep it away from

Pests and diseases4

Organic and cultural controls only.

  • Pest

    Pod borer

    Signs

    Caterpillars bore into pods and eat the seeds.

    What to do

    • Spray azadirachtin 0.03% (300 ppm) three times, a fortnight apart

  • Pest

    Aphids

    Signs

    Small insects suck sap from shoots and leaves.

  • Disease

    Powdery mildew

    Signs

    White powdery growth on leaves, stems and pods.

Seed and the season's end

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

Grow the seed crop with the same seed rate and spacing as the table crop. Keep 5 m between two varieties.

When the seed is ready

Leave the pods on the plant until they turn dry and papery and the seeds rattle.

Cleaning the seed

Pick the dry pods, shell them by hand and dry the seed in the shade for a few days.

Store fully dry seed in a sealed tin or jar in a cool, dry place.

After the last pickingNo published guide covers this for the South interior, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Pull or cut the vines after the last picking and compost them, or dig them in to feed the next crop.

After the last picking, chop the vines and dig them in or compost them. Remove plants that died of wilt or rot.

Rotation

Follow a three year rotation with cereals where wilt is a problem. Do not grow peas straight after brinjal, cauliflower, carrot or peas; tomato or chilli is a better crop before them.

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. 3Production Technology of Vegetables and Flowers (VSF-231), Part I: Vegetable production (Garden pea)CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur (Department of Vegetable Science and Floriculture)Read the source
  2. 4Horticulture: Vegetables: PeasTNAU Agritech Portal, Tamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityRead the source
  3. 5Economic potential of pea farming in Himachal Pradesh (Indian Farming 74(12): 15-17, December 2024)ICAR (Indian Farming); authors at Dr Y S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, SolanRead the source

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