Cridaharsha (Crhg-19)-a High Yielding Drought Tolerant and Brown Seeded Horsegram Variety for South India

Horsegram is a climate resilient crop because of its drought hardiness with agronomic characters matching for cultivation in drylands under marginal conditions. There are very few varieties available in this crop for commercial cultivation. A new promising variety of horsegram CRIDAHARSHA (CRHG-19) was released in 2014 for South India covering the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Kerala under rainfed conditions. It is a derivative of K-42 evolved by physically induced mutation through γ ray irradiation. The variety yields on an average 760–1300 kg/ha of grain and 2800–3500 kg/ha of fodder and matures in 85 days. The variety is brown seeded and non-shattering. It is tolerant to Powdery Mildew, Anthracnose, Yellow Mosaic Virus, Cercospora leaf Blight and Whiteflies. It has superior quality parameters with 28.3% crude protein content. In South India, the optimum sowing time is mid August-September during the South West Monsoon while during North East Monsoon, it is September-October with a spacing of 30 × 10 cm. Recommended seed rate is 20–25 kg/ha. The variety responds to fertilizer up to 20 N + 40 P2 O5 and recorded 65% increased yield over local varieties in the farmer's fields.