 |  | Better Farming Series 19 - Market Gardening (FAO - INADES, 1977, 56 p.) | ||
 |  | Beans | ||
|  | (introduction...) | ||
| | Prepare the soil well | ||
| | Sowing | ||
| | Beans must be well tended | ||
| | Protect against insects and diseases | ||
| | Harvesting | ||
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64. Beans are worth growing, because:
Beans are food for people; they are rich in proteins.
Beans do not need a very rich soil. They grow in light soils and soils rich in humus, but they can also be grown in fairly poor soils.
Beans enrich the soil. They can be sown as a cover crop during the year of fallow, at the end of the rotation.
Peas, broad beans, and groundnuts are grown in much the same way as beans.
They are all legumes of which the fruits are eaten.
Many varieties of beans
Some bean varieties
65. There are many varieties of beans.
Cowpeas and Kissi are African varieties. Both grow slowly.
Harvesting begins two months after sowing. Production may continue for a month. Both are disease- resistant.
Some foreign varieties grow faster.
Harvesting begins 30 to 40 days after sowing.
But they are easily attacked by diseases, and new seeds have to be bought every year.
Certain varieties have very long stems (18 to 3 metres) and have to be staked. These are called pole beans. Other dwarf varieties have short stems (from 20 to 40 centimetres) and do not need staking.
Same need to be staked, other do
not
66. Beans are beat grown at the end of the rotation.
In that
way they use up the mineral salts which still remain in the soil.
It is not necessary to spread manure before sowing beans.
Fertilizers may be used, especially potassium and phosphorus ones. Ask advice from the extension services. Till the soil fairly deeply so that the soil will hold its moisture and the roots can go down more deeply to take up nourishment.
67. Buy new seeds every year.
- Sow directly into the open beds, in seed holes and rows.
- Put three seeds in each seed hole.
- Push the seeds 3 or 4 centimetres deep into the soil.
- For pole varieties, leave 1 metre between rows, and along the rows 70 to 125 centimetres between seed holes.
- For dwarf varieties, leave 50 centimetres between rows, and, along the rows 60 to 70 centimetres between seed holes.
- Water.
68. Cultivating
A few days after sowing, when the seedlings have come up, remove weeds.
Two or three weeks after the first cultivation, earth up the plants by heaping soil around their base.
At the same time weed for the second and last time.
When you cultivate be careful not to damage the roots. If a very hard crust of earth has formed, for example after heavy rain, break up the crust without disturbing the soil in depth so that the soil is aerated without damaging the roots.
Put in stakes only for pole varieties. The stakes should be 1.8 to 2 metres high. Tie the stakes together.
Stakes for pole
beans
69. Insects
The main insect pests attacking beans are yellow spiders, bean weevils and aphids.
|
Insect |
Treatment |
|
Yellow spider: Attacks leaves and young bean plants |
Apply Phosdrin especially on the underside of the leaves |
|
Bean weevil |
Treat seeds with Lindane, DDT and Aldrin |
|
Aphid |
Treat with Phosdrin. |
70. Diseases
|
Disease |
Treatment |
|
Bean anthracnose: Shows brown spots and leaves and pods wither |
Good rotation and deep tilling. Treat seeds, possibly more than once, with mercury- based products, with Dithane or Thiram. |
|
White mould |
Treat with Karathane. |
|
Halo blight |
Pull up and burn diseased plants. |
|
Rust |
Good rotation. Disease can be prevented by treating with 1 percent Bordeaux mixture or with synthetic fungicides. |
71. Some beans are picked when they are green, and both pods and seeds are eaten.
The first green beans are ready for picking about 11 weeks after sowing. Picking green beans means a lot of work.
The pods must be picked every day. If you do not pick the ripe pods every day, they become hard and are not nice to eat.
If you do not pick the ripe pods every day, no new pods will form, and the harvest will be less plentiful.
Green beans
Green beans can be picked for about a month.
It is best to pick green beans early in the morning, or late in the evening. When picking the ripe pods be careful not to damage the young pods which are forming.
Green beans do not keep. They must be either eaten or sold the same day you pick them or the day after.
72. Some beans are picked when the seeds have grown quite large, but the pods are still green. These are called fresh beans.
Only the seeds are eaten, not the pods.
Fresh beans are ready for picking about three months after sowing.
Pick fresh beans once a week.
Do not wait too long, otherwise the seeds become too hard.
Fresh beans do not keep long. They must be eaten or sold shortly after picking.
73. Some beans are picked dry.
Only the seeds are eaten.
Dry beans are picked only when the pods are quite yellow.
But do not wait for the pods to open, otherwise the seeds drop.
Picking dry beans is easy. Pull up the whole plant by hand.
Pile the plants in little heaps on the beds. Leave them to dry
in the sun. When they are quite dry, put them in the barn.
The beans keep
better if you leave them in the pods. Take the beans out of the pods only at the
moment when you want to eat or sell
them.
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