Lesson 6.34.0 TROPICAL BEANS - Winged Bean

 

FOOD FOREST COURSE 

AGRO-ECONOMY Lesson 6.34.0 

TROPICAL BEANS - Winged Bean Psophocarpus tetragonolobus

   

The winged bean is also called the four-angled bean and originally came from Madagascar and Asia.  People in PNG grow this very prolific bean and we can also grow it very successfully in our sub-tropical climate.

There are a few varieties available but choose the one that offers all parts of the plant as a food source.  If you are fortunate enough to get hold of this variety, the leaves, shoot tips, flowers, tuberous roots and of course the beans can all be eaten so this makes it a very productive plant! 

Cultivation

The winged bean is a perennial in the tropics but in the sub tropics it needs to be planted in early to mid spring to enable the vines to grow to maturity throughout the summer months before the cooler weather arrives.  Winged bean vines need a sturdy support to climb onto and it can happily share a trellis with yams or Madagascar beans.  In early autumn the flowers will appear and these look like the typical flowers of the pea family.  The colour of the flower is a gentle lilac.  When the young beans form on the vines they can be picked for eating at any stage but be careful not to disturb the flowers as they fall off quite easily.  Fallen flowers do not produce beans and after waiting so long it would be a pity not to get full productivity.

Winged beans are a tropical legume and so they add nitrogen to the soil.  Temperate legumes such as beans and peas that originate from the cooler climates, do not have the right bacteria present in the warmer soils for them to able to fix nitrogen from the air into the soil.  The only way to have temperate legumes nodulate and fix nitrogen from the air is to inoculate the soil with the corresponding microbes.  All legumes that fix nitrogen from the air into the soil will have small nodules on their root systems and when these are present (and easily visible to the naked eye) this will determine if the right soil bacteria are present or not.

Good soil preparation is worthwhile for the winged bean but use only compost or worm castings as too much added nitrogen will only encourage a lot of leaf growth at the expense of bean formation.  Even watering in the growing stages is important to encourage prolific vine growth.  This is to encourage full potential for the vines to grow and eventually be very productive.  Bean production typically lasts around six weeks and then the vines will die back as the colder winter months approach in the subtropics.  Sometimes the vines will regrow the next spring.

Seed saving is important, as winged bean seed aren’t easily available.  As with all beans, if the first beans are left on the vine for maturing this will tend to slow down production.  It is still advisable to allow some of the first beans to mature on the vine for seed saving as this will encourage genetic variability in your seed stock. The seed last up to two years and need to be thoroughly dried before storage in glass jars or plastic bags.

Food value

The tubers of the winged bean can contain up to 20% protein.  There are scientists that believe that the winged bean has the potential to be an important tropical crop of the future being equivalent to the soybean.  The tubers taste like early season potatoes and are traditionally prepared in PNG by roasting in hot ash.  They can also be eaten raw.  The young pods, flowers, leaves and the tips can be eaten as a green vegetable.  The matured beans will produce a round bean seed that will be green before drying out then change to a dark brown colour.  These can also be eaten, as they are very digestible.  The winged bean itself is the prize catch, as they taste exquisitely like snow peas.  Young and fresh from the vine they are a real treat.Text from the roots, Elisabeth Ferkonia (Aus.) PDC studied with Bill Mollison.

MORE INFOS: Be more successful with our company as consultant in AGRO-ECONOMY. 

We reach 4 times more yields, click on the blog: https://atlas-development.blogspot.com

Join in on 150 lessons FOOD FOREST COURSE AGROFORESTRY you can easy start now.

Click on https://food-forest-course.blogspot.com THE STANDARD you find there forever.

Find the 250 lessons, the basics of ORGANIC FARMING COURSE in fb on FAIREC forever.

https:// www.facebook.com/FAIREC-Atlas-Developement-SARL-654505228040366/

Save daily 50 % water, energy, and fertilizer with us. Use also 2-wheel tractors for easy and better farming. See 70 lessons of best SUBSURFACE DRIP IRRIGATION for crops and trees Use our best T-Tape, click on the blog https://smart-farming-solutions.blogspot.com

 

#organicfarmer #organic #organicfarmingpractices #organicfarming #organicfarm #foodforest #syntropic #agroecology #syntropicfarming #agroeconomy #introductiontopermaculture #permacultureprinciples #creativethinking #permaculturehomesteading #regenerativefuture #sustainablecommunities