Cultivation - Life Cycle of Field Beans

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In this tutorial, we will talk about the cultivation process of the Field Beans crop.

There are two types of field beans crop ¬– the Bushy type and the Vine type. The vine type has undetermined growth. In our tutorial, we will focus more on the bushy type field beans. Field beans have different names in different languages. The scientific name of field beans is Lablab Purpureus and belongs to the family Fabaceae.

Field beans is a multi-purpose crop, primarily grown for its green pods. However, it is consumed as vegetable, pulse and forage. Earlier Field beans plants are a perennial creeper plants but now in modern breeding methods made it available as a annual shrub.

Field beans are warm season annual legumes that grow upright or in a bush. Small flowers (self-pollinated) are produced in clusters at various nodes on the plant and may be either white or lavender in color. Mature pod color, seed color and seed size or shape varies depending upon the market class and/or the variety.

The crop requires between 85 and 120 days from planting to maturity depending on variety. The first half of this period is vegetative development and the later half is reproductive.

Let us now look into the suitable climate required for field beans crop cultivation.

Higher temperature and humidity favors the plant growth. Field beans are a warm season crop and perform best in temperatures ranging from 80^oF highs to 50 to 60^oF lows during the growing season. High temperature and moisture stress during the flower and pod setting period results in the abortion of large numbers of blossoms and developing pods.

Following are the different steps involved in the cultivation of crops −

• Land preparation
• Drip irrigation arrangement
• Seed sowing
• Weeding
• Pest and disease management
• Flowering and pod formation
• Harvesting and yield

We will now learn how to prepare the land for the cultivation of field beans crop.

Land Preparation

Field beans thrive best on fertile sandy loam soils with good internal or tile drainage and moderate organic matter content. The ideal soil pH range is between 5.8 to 6.5. A soil pH above 7.2 can result in chlorosis problems. Soils that can be temporarily flooded, easily compacted, are not suitable for field bean production and often lead to plant death.

Because field beans is a legume crop, it requires less nitrogen in soil. 6 tones of farm yard manure and 20kg of Phosphorus and 10 kg of N should be applied in 1 hectare at the time of land preparation.

Deep ploughing with chisel plough to attain 15 to 20 cms depth and bring to fine tilth and levelling with rotators will incorporate all the nutrition into the soil. For this, we require 2 to 3 deep ploughings and one levelling.

After land preparation, arrangement is made for drip irrigation for the entire field. Let us now learn about the drip irrigation arrangement.

Drip Irrigation

Drip irrigation is a form of irrigation that saves water and fertilizer by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, either onto the soil surface or directly into the root zone, through a network of valves, pipes, tubing, and emitters. Overhead irrigation wets the plants but produces runoff. In contrast, drip irrigation is a much more controlled irrigation method. It works by exposing the roots to a direct supply of water. Drip irrigation system releases water in a slow and steady fashion and a controlled amount of water is supplied to plants at regular intervals.

Seed Sowing

It is always essential to select only high quality seed for sowing. 20 to 25kgs of seeds are required per 1 hectare. The onset of monsoon is considered suitable for the sowing of seeds. A spacing of 20 cms between seed to seed and 60 cms between row to row is required while sowing the seeds. Seed sowing depth is 2 to 3cm into the soil. The seeds start germinating after 7 to 10 days of sowing. Seedlings emerge out from the soil once the germination starts.

The first true leaf formed after the cotyledons emerge from the soil is simple or unifoliate and all subsequent leaves are compound (with three leaflets). In this stage, seedlings grow rapidly by utilizing the nutrition and water from the field. Weeds grow along with the seedlings. Therefore, removing weeds from field bean field plays an important role in field beans crop cultivation.

Next, we will learn about the weeding and intercultural operations involved in the cultivation of field beans crop.

Weed Management and Inter Cultivation

Regular weeding should be carried out in the field where the beans are being cultivated. The cultivation of field beans requires 10 cycles of weeding.  These weeds utilize the nutrition and water resources of the crop and also act as the medium for the spread of pests and diseases. Weeds between two channels can be removed by a tractor and spade but the weeds which are present between plant to plant can be removed by khurpee or sickle.

Spraying weedicides to control the weed population in the field is not suggestable because weedicides might turn harmful for the crops. Continue with the weeding practices till the crop reaches the flowering stage.

Let us now understand pest and disease management required for the cultivation of field beans crop.

Pest and Disease Management

The field bean crop is majorly attacked by pests such as Aphids, Thrips, Pod Borer, Ash Weevil, Whitefly.

The major diseases that attack the field beans crop are Powdery Mildew and Rust, Anthracnose, Leaf Spot, Root Rot.

• Spray Methyl Demeton or Dimethoate to control Aphids and Thrips.
• Pod borer can be controlled by spraying Carbaryl.
• Ash weevil can be controlled by spraying Phosalone.
• To control Whitefly, place 20 yellow sticky traps coated with castor oil in polythene sheet to attract the white flies.
• Powdery mildew can be controlled by spraying Wettable Sulphur.
• Rust can be controlled by dusting Sulphur.
• Anthracnose can be controlled by spraying Chlorothalonil.
• Leaf spot can be controlled by spraying Mancozeb.
• Root rot can be controlled by drenching the crop with Carbendazim 1 g/lit in the root zone.

Flowering and Pod Formation

Field bean plants start flowering after 75 days of sowing. The flowers are white in color and very sensitive. Any temperature higher than 30°C can cause flower blasting which might result in dropping of buds and flowers.

All flowers form an inflorescence on the main stem of the plant and heavy winds might lead to the dropping of flowers. So, timely sowing of seeds in the field help in mitigating the problem of flower dropping. These flowers turn to pods in 15 to 20 days. These green pods are the edible portions of the crop.

Once the pod formation completes, the crop is ready for harvesting. Let us now learn about how the crop is harvested.

Harvesting and Yield

The field bean crop is ready for harvesting after 90 days of sowing, full grown beans are harvested according to the need.

At the time of harvesting, be careful with the flowers on the plant because each flower will turn into a green pod. You might face flower dropping problem at the time of harvesting.

An average yield of 100 to 120 quintals of green pods can be expected per hectare.

Thank you for watching our tutorial on the cultivation of field beans crop. Stay connected with tutorialspoint.com to watch more tutorials on the cultivation of different crops.