Scientific Name : Vicia faba.L
Family : Fabaceae
Broad beans is one of the cultivar of beans crop and is also known as Faba beans.
It is widely cultivated as a crop for human consumption, and also as a cover crop. Broad beans are frequently planted as cover crop and green manure, as they add nitrogen to the soil by means of nitrogen fixing bacteria. The plant is also used as livestock and poultry fodder.
Benefits
Helps to prevent birth defects
Boosts immunity
Helps in weight loss
lowers cholesterol levels and blood pressure.
Varieties
SWS 1
BR 1
BR 2
Bowland beauty
Syria small
Sweet Loraine
Soil
Faba beans grows well in hilly regions. It can be grown in almost all the soils with suitable pH range of 6.5-7.5. This crop requires cool climate.Season
Sowing is taken in July – August or November – December
Seed rate
The optimum seed rate for sowing is 25 kg/ha.
Land preparation
Plough the land with country plough to get a fine tilth and level the land.
Form beds of recommended size.
Sowing
Sow the seeds in beds at 45 x 15 cm spacing.
Irrigation
Irrigation is done on the day of sowing and later once in 5 days.
Fertilizers and Manures
Basal dose
Apply FYM of 25 t/ha
SSP of 50 kg/ha
MOP of 25 kg/ha
25 kg/ha of Urea and 25 kg/ha of MOP are applied between 20 – 25 days after sowing
application of remaining 25 kg/ha of N is done between 40 – 45 days.
Earthing up is done on 45th day after sowing.
As soon as the plants start flowering the top portion of the plant is pinched off which causes the pods to develop early.
Yield
An average yield of 400 – 500 kg/ha can be obtained for 10 – 12 months.
