Lentil

This Presentation is about Lentil (Lens culinaris), also known as Massur, Masoor, Masura. This Presentation includes Introduction, Biological Classification, Morphology of Lentil Plant, Floral Biology, Origin, Cytology, Breeding Objectives, Breeding Procedures, Diseases and Insects damage the Lentil Crop,

1. Lentil Lens culinaris Medik (2n=2x=14)

2. Introduction Lentil is a rabi pulse crop grown mainly in Canada, India, Turkey, US, Australia. In India, the acreage under lentil is about 1 million hectare which is about 5% of the total pulse acreage. The production is about 0.6 million tones accounting for about 5% of the total pulse production. Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal are the states where 95% of the acreage is concentrated.

3. Biological Classification Order: Fabales Family: Fabaceae Genus: Lens Species: L. culinaris Common Names: Masoor , Masura

4. Morphology of Lentil Plant Lens culinaris is an erect, pale green annual herb up to 75 cm tall. Its main stem is square in cross-section, and from it many branches extend. Leaves : The pinnately compound leaves are arranged alternately along the stem. Each leaf consists of 5-16 leaflets which are inserted along the leaf’s central axis (the rachis).

5. Morphology of Lentil Plant Fruit : The fruit is a 6-20 mm long, 3-12 mm wide pod containing up to 3 seeds. Seed : The seeds are lens-shaped, 2-9 mm long, 2-3 mm wide and can be grey, green, brownish green, pale red speckled with black or pure black in colour.

6. Floral Biology Lentil is self pollinating crop due to cleistogamy, with less than 1% cross pollination. Pollination normally occurs just before the flower opens. The stalked flowers are arranged along an unbranched axis (a raceme). The flowers are pale blue, white or pink. The flower consist of 10 stamens (9:1 arrangement). The pistil consists of the stigma, the style and the ovary, usually with two ovules.

7. Origin Lens orientalis is the progenitor species. The centre of origin for Lens culinaris is the Near East and the species was first domesticated in the Near East. Lentil first spread to the Nile from the Near East, to Central Europe and then to the Indian subcontinent and Mediterranean region.

8. Cytology The diploid chromosome number is 2n=2x=14. 2 pairs of chromosomes are Metacentric, 2 pairs are Sub-metacentric and 3 pairs are Acrocentric. The chromosome length may vary from 1.9 to 6.4 µ and the total chromosome length from 14.1 to 36.3 µ. The number of chromosomes with secondary constrictions ranged from 0-2.

9. Breeding Objectives High Seed Yield Appropriate Size, Shape, Seed Coat Colour and Quality for the following market classes of lentil: Large Green Medium Green Small Green Small Red Extra Small Red a Few Minor Specialty Classes High Protein Value Less Cooking Time

10. Breeding Objectives Tolerance to Drought Resistance to Shattering Lodging Tolerance Resistance to Diseases Ascochyta blight Rust (Uromyces fabae ) Wilt (Fusarium oxysporum)

11. Breeding Objective Resistance to Insects Pod borer (Etiella zinckenella ) Cutworm ( Agrotis ipsilon ) Aphid ( Aphis craccivora )

12. Breeding Procedures Pureline Selection among locally adapted germplasm lines. Varietal Hybridization Pedigree Method Bulk Method Single Seed Decent Method Backcross Method Biotechnology