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Hinterland Agriculture Diversification
The trial cultivation of the beans
Production of Feijou in hinterland imminent
Within months, hinterland farmers will be exposed to another bean crop aimed at improving their livelihoods whilst providing residents with a nutritional balance. The crop, Phaseolus Vulgaris is commonly called Feijou. It is Brazil’s most popular bean, says Dr. Oudho Homenauth, Chief Executive Officer of the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI).
The vine could be found along the Guyana/Brazil border and in some hinterland communities on a small scale. Currently, the majority of the bean consumed by hinterland residents is imported from Brazil.
According to Dr. Homenauth, during a recent Ministerial outreach to Region Eight, he got the opportunity to interact with farmers, as well as residents who indicated their preference for this legume over other local beans. Their interest is mainly to satisfy local demands. As a consequence, there was the need for quality seed material as well as a suitable inoculum
This penchant was observed several years ago, as such, in 2008 NAREI had begun investigating the bean. Research proved that the crop is prolific and has adapted well to Guyana’s climatic and soil conditions.
Feijou bean will take four to five days to emerge after sowing and 85 to 95 days to mature. Harvesting can be done over a three-month period, where production will begin to decline. Yield is likely 2500kg/hectare. The incidence of pest can affect production if plants are attacked, especially by Nematodes.
Before introducing the crop to the hinterland for systematic production NAREI had wanted to ensure that it would have been sustainable. As such, the Institute utilized the bean as a test crop to investigate new strains of bacteria to produce an inoculant,which is employed only in legume production.
Dr. Homenauth said that limited accessibility to fertilizer in the hinterland had influenced this aspect the investigation. He explained that the inoculation of seeds with Rhizobium bacteria helps legume plants to utilize atmospheric nitrogen, thus reducing a farmer’s dependence on nitrogenous fertilizers and its concurrent cost.
Farmers should capitalize on this technology to increase production by using Rhizobium inoculant when planting any legume crop. It should be noted that Rhizobium inoculant is available at NAREI for free or sold at low cost depending on the magnitude of cultivation.
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