Management of gram pod borer, H. armigera on chickpea

The pulses are cultivated in India since time immemorial. Among various pulses, chickpea is one of the important leguminous crops grown in rabi season. It is commonly known as 'Bengal gram' or 'Gram'. It is a self pollinated crop, belongs to the sub-family Papilionaceae of family Leguminaceae (Bentham and Hooker 1970). Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is an important cool-season food legume having extensive geographical distribution. It has higher acceptability and wider use, besides being rich in protein, its ability to use atmospheric nitrogen through biological nitrogen fixation is economically sounder and environmentally acceptable. Chickpea is used as "dal" in split form and whole fried or boil seeds are also eaten. Husk and bits of dal are used as nutritional feed for animals. Green immature chickpea is used as vegetable and its flour is a major ingredient in snacks and sweets in India and Pakistan. Chickpea is considered to have medicinal effect and it is used for blood purification. Chickpea contains 21.1 percent protein, 61.5 percent carbohydrate, 4.5 percent fat. It is also rich in calcium, iron, and niacin. In India it is cultivated in an area of about 12 million