FABA BEAN: A PULSE (GRAIN LEGUME)





In 1977 I visited a number of farms in the Annapolis Velley where they had been growing fababeans successfully or were conducting trials with fababeans. While this pulse or "grain legume" had long been a major crop in Europe, it had not been grown much in North America. The N.S. Dept. of Agriculture was conducting fababean trials in collaboration with farmers and reported highly variable results. I surmised that poor performance might be related to poor nodulation, that in turn due to lack of the appropriate bacteria in the soil. (In such a case, the seeds can be inoculated with the appropriate rhizobia.) The photo at bottom right above illustrates a well nodulated plant.

The photos below show fababean at a site where there was no nodulation (left)
and at a site where there was good nodulation (right).



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