French Bean

Land Requirements Land to be used for seed production shall be free of volunteer plants. In addtion, the land of the selected field should be well drained.  
Isolation Requirements Bean flowers are principally self-pollinated. Natural corssing however, is more common than peas, and the extend of cross pollination may vary from two to eight per cent. The seed field must be isolated from fields of other varieties, and the same variety not conforming to varietal purity requirements by at least ten metres for foundation seed production and five metres for certified seed production.

 

Cultural Practices

Time of Sowing Plains - January to February, August to September,
Hills - March to May
  


Preparation of Land Prepare the field well by ploughing and one to two harrowings, follwed by levelling.


Source of Seed Obtain breeder's/foundation seeds from source approved by a seed certification agency.


Seed Rate 25-30 kg per hectare (Pole varieties), 85-90 kg per hectare (bush varieties)


Method of Sowing Seeds are sown with a dirll, or dibbled in rows 60 to 75cm apart at 10 to 15 cm distance and 2 to2.5 cm deep. Sufficient moisture in the soil is essential for optimum germination. Ridge sowing is also adopted.
If the beans are being sown in a field for the first time, it is advisable to inoculate the seed with nitrogen-fixing bacteria before sowing. This helps in quick nodulation.


Fertilisation Apply 25 to 50tonnes farmyard manure per hectare at the time of land preparation; add 500 kg of Superphosphate, 125 kg amonium sulphate and 125 kg potassium sulphate at the time of sowing.. Use 125kg ammonium sulphate as top-dressing twenty five days after germination.

 

Irrigation Irrigate thecrop as required. It is essential to maintain available soil moisture above fifty per cent during flowering and pod development.


Interculture Keep the fields free of weeds. Tow or three hoeings may be required during the growing period.


Insect and Disease Control Adopt recommended IPM methods


Roguing It is important to rogue seed crop carefully to maintain genetic purity. characters such as, foliage colour, plant type, flower and pod characteristics etc. should be carefully checked and off-types removed from the field at preflowering, flowering and maturity stage. In addition to off-types the plants affected by diseases namely bacterial blight, Anthracnose, Ascocyta blight and bean mosaic should also be invariably removed from time to time as required.


Harvesting and Threshing

Harvesting is done when a large percentage of pods are fully ripe and most of the remaining have turned yellow. Harvesting should be started before the lower pods become dry enough to shatter. Harvesting is done usually by hand. The crop after harvesting, is left in the field to dry for about seven to ten days. Later, it is threshed by bullocks or by threshers. While harvesting, care should be taken to keep the mechanical injury to a minimum. After threshing and cleaning the seed should be dried to moisture content below nine per cent before storage.


Seed Yield The average seed yield varies from 12 to 18 qtl per hectare.