Introduction
The Grain Legumes Research Program (GLRP) is located at Khajura, it is just 6 km west from Dhamboji, Nepalgunj, the district head quarter of Banke, mid western terai region of Nepal. It is 23 km south-west from Kohalpur East-West highway and 490 km west from Kathmandu, Nepal. The geographical location is 810 37” E longitudes and 280 06” N lattitude at an altitude of 181 m. mean above sea level (masl).It has subtropical climate with cool winter (5.4oC) and very hot summer (46oC temperature) with 27 – 94% relative humidity (RH). The annual average rainfall is 1000 – 1500 mm. However, delayed onset and early termination of monsoon rains, is a regular feature, causing occasional failure of annual crops in the region. The soils on station is sandy loam to silty loam, poor in organic carbon and available N2 but medium in available P2O5 and K2O, pH varies from 7.2-7.5.
Grain legumes (GL) rank 4th in terms of Area and Production of Nepal after rice, maize and wheat. It occupy about 10.5% of total cultivated land. The area, production and productivity of GL in 2014/15 was 325397 ha, 353855 metric tons and 1087.5 kg/ha, respectively. Among the grain legumes, lentil alone accounts for 62.8% of area and 64.3% production. Grain legumes are the integral part of the Nepalese farming system. The GLRP was first time started in 1972 at Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS), Parwanipur and Agronomy Division, Khumaltar. After the establishment of Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) as an autonomous institution, this program was renamed as National Grain Legume Research Program (NGLRP) with its headquarter at Rampur, Chitwan. Then, the Grain Legumes office shifted from Rampur, Chitwan to Khajura, Banke on October, 2014 (Asoj, 2071) and it was renamed as Grain Legume Research Program.
Goal
Contribute towards livelihood improvement, income generation or food/nutrient security of Nepalese people through support to increase production and productivity of grain legumes at national level. In order to achieve this goal, improve crop management technology generation, varietal improvement, source seeds production, expert consultancy services and adjust grain legumes into current farming system are being considered to be major objectives.
Mission
Development and recommendation of improved production technologies, source seed production and provide consultation services for increasing production and productivity of grain legumes at national level.
Vision
Contribute towards livelihood improvement, and food and nutritional security of Nepalese farmers through generation and dissemination of adaptable and sustainable technologies on grain legumes.
Mandate
To achieve above mentioned vision and mission, following are the major mandates of this program given bythe Nepal Agricultural Research Council.
- Collection, conservation, evaluation, maintenance and utilization of indigenous and exotic genetic resources of grain legumes.
- Assessment of production problems of grain legumes in differentagro-ecological domains in the country with the collaboration of provincial level Directorates of Agricultural Research, Agricultural Research Stations, Agriculture Knowledge Centers, Seed Company, Agri-cooperatives, farmers and other agriculture related stakeholders to prioritize the research agenda and conduct research activities.
- Conduct applied and adaptive research on grain legumes for developing high yielding varieties, and improved production and postharvest practices and their recommendations for wider dissemination.
- Production of source seed (breeder and foundation) of different grain legume varieties based on national demand and supply source for seed producers providing the latest technologies and trainings.
- Provide consultation services to the concerned stakeholders.
- Conduct Outreach Research in collaboration with Agricultural Research Directorate, Agriculture Research Station, Agricukture Knowledge Centre, Agri-cooperatives to develop location specific technologies and disseminate proven technologies
- Publication of developed technologies on grain legumes and collaborations with extension agencies for their disseminations and adaptation.
- Collaboration with national and international research organizations, institutions and centers for research supports and specialization development.
- Develop Grain Legumes Research Program at the center of excellence in grain legumes.
- Establish moral relationship with farmers and agro-industries for encouraging investment on grain legumes research and its development.
Current Activities
Variety Improvement
- Effects of micronutrient fertilizers (boron, zinc, copper and sulphur) on yield and yield attributes of lentil and kidney bean.
- Effect of different weed control measures for managing weeds in lentil, mungbean, kidney bean and soybean.
- Impact of different sowing dates on grain yield of pulse crops (lentil, kidney bean).
- Effect of plant spacing on grain yield of kidney bean.
- Response of kidney bean to the application of different level of potassium fertilizer.
- Effect of FYM, poultry manure and vermin-compost on the production of kidney bean.
Participatory technology verefication
- PVS of lentil and chickpea in terai and valley area.
- Promotion of lentil and chickpea in terai and valley area (Baby trial).
- Extension of lentil seed priming technology in terai/inner terai area.
- Minikit distribution of lentil.
- Frontline demonstration of lentil.
- Testing and up scaling of promising genotypes of pulse crops.
Insects pest management
- HaNPV Production
- Monitoring of Helicoverpa armigera Hub.
- Field experiment for testing different doses of HaNPV against chickpea pod borer.
Ingegrated disease management
- Monitoring of major plant diseases for pulse crops.
- Identifying sources of genetic resistance to major diseases of lentil (Stemphylium blight, WRRSN, Rust and
- Botrytis Grey Mold), chickpea, faba bean and kidney bean.
- Development of wilt sick plot for legume disease screening nurseries.
Source seed production
- Nucleus seeds production.
- Breeder seeds production.
- Foundation seeds production.
Special research projects
- Intensification of rice-fallow system with pulse crops in Nepal – IFAD-ICARDA project.
- Development of lentil cultivars with high concentration of iron and zinc for nutritional security (HarvestPlus
- Challenge Program Agreement.#5220 Amd 2) – IFAD-ICARDA project.
- Grain legume research program initiatives to help lentil commercialization in Nepal – NTIS, MoAD.
- Agriculture and Food Security Projects (AFSP): Participatory Technology Validation.
Major Achievements
| S. N. | Crop | No. |
| 1 | LENTIL | 10 |
| 2 | CHICKPEA | 8 |
| 3 | SOYBEAN | 8 |
| 4 | PIGEONPEA | 2 |
| 5 | COWPEA | 3 |
| 6 | MUNGBEAN | 3 |
| 7 | BLACKGRAM | 1 |
| TOTAL | 35 |
| S. N. | Crops | No. of Accessions |
| 1 | Soybean | 539 |
| 2 | Common field beans (Simi) | 498 |
| 3 | Lentil | 490 |
| 4 | Pigeonpea | 279 |
| 5 | Cowpea | 221 |
| 6 | Peas | 188 |
| 7 | Blackgram | 166 |
| 8 | Grasspea | 164 |
| 9 | Ricebean | 150 |
| 10 | Green gram | 82 |
| 11 | Broad bean (fababean) | 62 |
| 12 | Horsegram | 56 |
| 13 | Common spring vetch | 16 |
| 14 | Hyacinth bean | 9 |
| 15 | Adzuki bean | 7 |
| 16 | Sword bean | 7 |
| 17 | Kidney bean | 2 |
| Total | 2936 |
| S. N. | Name of Variety | Accession | Sources | Release Year | Culti. Domain |
| 1 | Sindur | LO-111-25 | Nepal | 1979 | Terai, Midhill |
| 2 | Sisir | P43 | India | 1979 | Terai, Midhill |
| 3 | Simrik | T36 | India | 1979 | Terai, Midhill |
| 4 | Shikhar | ILL 4404 | Pakistan | 1989 | Terai, Midhill |
| 5 | Simal | LG 7 | India | 1989 | Terai, Midhill |
| 6 | Khajura Masuro 1 | LG 198 | India | 1999 | Western Terai |
| 7 | Khajura Masuro 2 | PL 639 | India | 1999 | Western Terai |
| 8 | Shital | ILL 2580 | ICARDA | 2004 | Terai, Midhil |
| 9 | Sagun | ILL 6829 | ICARDA | 2009 | Midhill, Valley |
| 10 | Maheswor Bharati | ILL 7982 | ICARDA | 2009 | Midhill, Valley |
| 11 | Khajura Masuro 3* | RL 4 | ICARDA | 2017 | Terai, Midhill |
*Approved by national variety release sub-committee on Magh 26, 2073 with NGRC02886
Pipeline genotypes: BLACK MASURO, ILL 7723
| S. N. | Name of Variety | Accession | Sources | Release Year |
| 1. | Dhanush | Nepal | 1980 | |
| 2. | Trisul* | Nepal | 1980 | |
| 3. | Radha | JG 74 | India | 1987 |
| 4. | Sita | ICC4 | ICRISAT | 1987 |
| 5. | Koseli | ICCC32 | ICRISAT | 1991 |
| 6. | Kalika | ICCL82108 | ICRISAT | 1991 |
| 7. | Tara | ICCX840508-36 | Nepal | 2009 |
| 8. | Avrodhi | Avrodhi | India | 2009 |
| S. N. | Name of Variety | Accession | Sources | Release Year |
| 1. | Hill* | (Dunfield x Haberlandt) x Sib of Lee | USA | 1976 |
| 2. | Hardee | D 49-772 x Improved Pelican | USA | 1976 |
| 3 . | Cobb | F 57-737 x D 58-3358 | USA | 1989 |
| 4. | Ransom | (N 55-5931 x N55-3818) x D56-1185 | USA | 1989 |
| 5. | Seti | KS 419 x KS 525 | Taiwan | 1989 |
| 6. | Lumle-1 | Local | 1997 | |
| 7. | Tarkari Bhatmas-1 | Huichin#2 | 2004 | |
| 8 . | Puja | PK 416 | 2006 |
| S. N. | Variety | Accession | Sources | Release Year |
| 1. | Kalu | T 9 | India | 1971 |
| S. N. | Variety | Accession | Origin | Year |
| 1 | Bageshwori | PR 5147 | Nepal | 1991 |
| 2 | Rampur Rahar 1 | Local | Nepal | 1991 |
| S. N. | Name of Variety | Origin | Year |
| 1. | Pusa Baisakhi | India | 1975 |
| 2. | Pratikshya | AVRDC | 2005 |
| 3. | Kalyan | AVRDC | 2005 |
Pipeline varieties: HUM16
- Stemphylium disease severity was low on early sowing lentil (October 18 followed by October 25) as compared to December 13 sowing.
- The severity of Stemphylium disease was low in plots sprayed with Rovral (Iprodione; Dicarboximide group) followed by plots sprayed with Mancozeb 75% and Sweet flag extract.
- Bio-fortified lentil genotypes LG-12, HUL-57, RL-11, PL-4 and Shital were superior to other high Fe content lines tested in term of yield across the environments.
- Application of HaNPV 200LE @ 5ml/litre against chickpea pod borer resulted 14.45% more yield than farmer’s practice of once spraying cypermethrin at the time of pod formation stage at the field of Khajura, Banke.
Future strategies
- Develop HY varieties for different agro-ecological zones and cropping patterns using local land races and introduction of exotic materials (Selection/Hybridization/Mutation breeding).
- Initiate breeding program for stress tolerant (diseases, pests, drought and cold) (identify QTL in the context to climate change, drought etc).
- Improved methodologies and tools for genetic improvement (Pre-breeding, advanced biometry, international crop information system, etc.).
- Varietal maintenance and quality source seed production (Nucleus and Breeder Seeds).
- Integrated pest management (IPM) options for plant diseases, insects and weeds both in pre/post harvest condition.
- Use of molecular tools to accesses variation for high yielding varieties.
- Focus on exportable qualities like small seeded, red cotyledon and tasty lentil (Quality breeding).
- Scaling up of legumes technologies to reduce yield gaps between research farms and farmers fields.
- Exploration and Exchange of Germplasms .
- Scaling up of low cost technologies (intercropping, RCT, Priming), IPM /IDM methods.
- Crop simulation modeling on pulse crops to predict the crop productivity and sustainable use of water and other resources.
- Intensification of rice-fallow system with pulse crops in Nepal.
- Strengthen legume research program through capacity building and infrastructure support.
- High yielding short duration varieties of lentil and chickpea fitting into short windows available between the two main crops in southern latitudes.
- Bio-fortified lentils (HarvestPlus) and low-toxin grasspea for improved nutrition and health.
- Collaboration for climate change resilience research.
- Mechanization on grain legume cultivation and processing.
- Establishment of biochemical laboratory.
Researchers
- Dr. Anil Phokhrel, Senior Scientist (S-3)/Coorinator
- Mr.Padam Prasad Paudel, Scientist (S-2)
Contact Address
Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC)
National Grain Legume Research Programme (NGLRP)
Nepalgunj, Khajura, Banke
Postel Code: 56800, Khankuta, Nepal
Phone: 977-81-560434, 977-9855058011 (Cell)
E-mail: nglrp_khajura@narc.gov.np, nglrp_rampur@hotmail.com
Website: www.narc.gov.np