Per the crop database's own description: an Indian legume, very drought tolerant, high protein, low input. Horse gram is a genuinely tough, nutrient-dense pulse traditionally grown across South Asia as a dual-purpose crop -- valued equally as human food and livestock fodder, and prized above all for cropping reliably where rainfall alone can't support most other pulses.
Water need
One of the most genuinely drought-tolerant crops on this whole site -- per the crop database, this is exactly what it's known for.
Calories at a glance
3,210 kcal/kg dried -- a genuine calorie and protein source for very little water input (scale is log-based across all 55 core crops in the calculator).
Temperature Range by Month
Month on the bottom, temperature up the side. The pale green background is what the plant can survive at all -- fatal above or below it, labelled directly on the chart where that applies to your zone. The coral band is its ideal range, and only fades in during the months this zone would actually have the crop in the ground -- reusing the exact same sowing/harvesting data as the calendar further down the page. The blue line is real monthly climate data (not a modelled estimate) for a representative rural/agricultural location in this zone -- a small farming town or agricultural research station rather than a major city, to avoid the warmer bias city weather stations have. For the actual verdict on how well this crop does in your zone, see the badge at the top of the page -- that's based on the site's own researched yield figures, not this chart.
Quick Start: Sowing to Drying
- Sow direct into warm soil. Sow direct once the soil has warmed -- horse gram is a genuine tropical/subtropical legume and germinates poorly in cold ground.
- Skip the irrigation once established. Beyond getting seedlings established, horse gram needs little to no supplemental watering -- its real drought tolerance is the whole point of growing it.
- Let it sprawl as ground cover. Horse gram grows low and spreading, and this habit doubles as living mulch, suppressing weeds around it with no extra work.
- Leave pods to dry fully on the plant. For dried storage, leave pods on the plant until they've dried and the seeds rattle inside.
- Shell and finish drying indoors. Shell the dried pods and spread the seeds out somewhere warm and airy for a final week of drying before storing in an airtight container.
Sowing & Harvesting Calendar
Pick your zone under "Temperature Range by Month" above and this updates too. Maritime, Boreal and Alpine show no window at all, since this site's own yield data marks horse gram as not viable there.
Calories & Yield
Horse gram is a genuine calorie and protein staple when dried at 3,210 kcal per kg. Mediterranean gives the best yield here.
| Climate Zone | Yield per plant | Calories per plant | Viability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tropical / Humid | 1.5 kg | 4,815 kcal | Viable |
| Subtropical | 1.5 kg | 4,815 kcal | Viable |
| Mediterranean | 1.8 kg | 5,778 kcal | Viable -- best yield |
| Temperate Maritime | -- | -- | Not viable |
| Temperate Continental | 0.6 kg | 1,926 kcal | Challenging (60% yield) |
| Cool / Boreal | -- | -- | Not viable |
| Arid / Semi-Arid | 1.5 kg | 4,815 kcal | Viable |
| Highland / Alpine | -- | -- | Not viable |
Figures per plant sown, dried weight, from the site's own crop database. Continental already reflects the 60% penalty applied to challenging zones.
A note on varieties: horse gram is mostly grown as regional landrace populations rather than widely marketed named cultivars -- real, verifiable named-variety diversity for home growers is genuinely thin.
Seed Saving -- Quick Guide
Horse gram is self-pollinating with very low crossing risk -- a tough, drought-tolerant legume that's just as forgiving to save seed from as it is to grow.
SERVINGS, NOT DAILY CALORIES This works out plate-sized servings of horse gram from your seed during its fresh harvest window only, not your group's full daily calorie needs. For that, use the main calculator.
Estimated for your selected zone above, using this site's own germination, loss and yield figures for horse gram -- a helping is roughly what you'd put on a plate as part of a meal with other veg. Treat it as a planning estimate, not a promise.
Storage & Preservation
Horse gram is grown here specifically for dried storage -- pods are left on the plant until fully dry, then shelled and given a final week of airing indoors before going into an airtight container.
Stored this way in a cool, dry place, dried horse gram keeps for a genuinely long time -- years rather than months, the same storage league as this site's other dried pulses.
Growing Horse Gram Without Bought Inputs
Genuinely one of the lowest-input crops on this whole site -- per the crop database, that's exactly what it's grown for, and few pests bother it seriously.
Its own low, spreading habit acts as living mulch, suppressing weeds around it and reducing the work needed elsewhere in the bed.
Horse gram fixes its own nitrogen via bacteria in root nodules, genuinely improving the soil for whatever's grown there next.
Frequently Asked Questions
How drought tolerant is horse gram, really?
Very -- the crop database is direct: very drought tolerant, low input. It's traditionally grown across South Asia specifically because it produces a real crop where many other pulses would fail outright, on rainfall alone and with minimal inputs.
Is horse gram only used for animal fodder?
No -- it's genuinely dual-purpose. Horse gram has a long tradition as both human food, valued for being high protein, and livestock fodder across South Asia, and growing it for the table is a real, established use, not a fallback.
Does horse gram cross-pollinate with other legumes on this site?
No -- horse gram (Macrotyloma uniflorum) is in its own genus, with no other Macrotyloma crop grown on this site, so there's no cross-pollination risk from other legumes here.