Moth bean, one of the most important pulses of the hot arid tracts of western Rajasthan, is grown on nearly 10 lakh hectares, but yields stay near 350 kg per hectare because rainfall of 150–250 mm is low and erratic, dry spells run 20–30 days and soil moisture is scarce. In such conditions a variety's ability to withstand moisture stress and keep growing and setting pods decides the crop, and the ICAR–Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI) at Jodhpur has run long-term breeding for that plasticity, stress resilience and yield.

Four varieties released in the last three years — CAZRI Moth-4, Moth-5, Moth-6 and Moth-7 — have shown what the institute calls remarkable field-level resilience in the current El Niño kharif of 2026, through a moisture-stress period of about 35 days. Over the growing period from 10 July to 2 September cumulative pan evaporation was around 317 mm; rain stopped after the event of 3 August, and during the 35-day dry spell to 7 September a further 180 mm evaporated while the crop had received rain mainly during establishment and early growth.

The dry spell coincided with flowering, pod formation and reproductive development, yet the varieties stayed green, grew well and podded profusely at about 55 days after sowing. Management supported them: sowing with the July monsoon onset, a 45 × 10 cm plant geometry, mechanical interculture at 20 days for moisture conservation and mechanical plus spot weeding — on fields of poor fertility, with organic carbon of 0.13–0.18%, pH 7.9–8.1, available nitrogen of 90–100 kg/ha and phosphorus of 10–15 kg/ha.

Seed of the four varieties is being multiplied on seven hectares at the CAZRI research farm to meet the 23.32 quintals indented through the Saathi Portal for 2026, after 63.2 quintals in 2025, with Rajasthan State Seeds Corporation, the National Seeds Corporation and selected private players multiplying it further. One quintal of breeder seed can yield 1,000–1,400 quintals of certified seed, enough for about 10,000 hectares; even at half that potential, wider adoption in Rajasthan could cover about a quarter of the state's moth bean area.

Dr M. L. Jat, secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education and director general of ICAR, said moth bean is a unique crop of the Thar Desert and these climate-resilient varieties could help make the desert more prosperous, create income for farmers and contribute to self-reliance in pulses; growth and podding through a long rainless period, he said, shows the place of genetic improvement in climate-resilient agriculture — provided a package of practices, from optimum plant population and timely sowing to weed and moisture management, lets the genetics express themselves.

Source: AgroSpectrum