French Bean

Booklet No. 406 Vegetable Production: VPS -16

Contents Preface I. Introduction II. Classification III. Soil. and Climate IV. Varieties V. Planting Requirements A. Sowing time B. Seed rate and spacing C. Seed treatment VI. Cultivation A. Irrigation B. Manuring and fertilization C. Weed control D. Effect of growth regulators VII. Diseases and Pests VIII. Harvesting and storage IX. Composition Preface Vegetable production is one of the branches of horticulture which provides a good source of income to the growers. Vegetables form the vital part of human diet. They are considered as protective supplementary foods as they contain large quantities of minerals, vitamins and proteins, which are required for the normal functioning of the human metabolic processes. French bean is one of the important leguminous vegetables which is rich in nutrition and commonly seen in home gardens. Dr. K. T. Chandy, Agricultural & Environmental Education I. Introduction French bean is extensively grown as a green vegetable and nearly 6000 hectares of land is under its cultivation in our country. The production of the beans is estimated to be about 12,50,000 tonnes per year. It is also known as common bean, kidney bean, snap bean, navy bean and haricot bean. It is grown for the tender pods, shelled green beans and dry beans. The dry beans are marketed as rajmah. This vegetable is commonly grown in Poona, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Salem, the Nilgiris, Kodaikanal in India. II. Classification Southern Mexico and Central America are considered to be the primary centres of origin and Peruvian -Ecuadorian -Bolivan area is the secondary centre of origin. It belongs to the family Leguminosae genus Phaseolus and species vulgaris. Phaseolus vulgaris can be broadly classified according to :

i. habit: bush or pole beans. ii. Condition for the use as food green shell beans or snap beans or string beans or dry shell beans. iii. colour of immature pods-green pod or wax pod. The dwarf bush type will have short and erect stems with the main axis having 4-8 internodes. Semi-pole type has internodes longer than bushy type. Pole type beans are climbing in nature, need to be staked with the help of bamboo stick or wooden sticks. This type has longer internodes which depends on the length of the growing season. Snap beans are used for vegetable pods: green shell beans used in the green shelled condition and dry shell beans used in dry state which are called as field beans. Varieties for dried beans should be dwarf type, productive, hardy with attractive seed colour and quality for trade. Most of the dry shell crops are bush types and are green poded. Snap beans are mainly green and wax poded. Longer beans belongs to bushy types. Green shell beans are commonly large seeded with either wax or green poded. III. Soil and Climate Soil and Climatic conditions for the cultivation of beans are described here. A. Soil French beans can be grown on all types of soils from light to heavy clay. They cannot grow well in soils with extreme soil reaction or pH i.e. in extreme acidic or alkaline soils. The optimum soil pH is 5.5 -6.0. If the soil reaction is less than 5.5, the soil should be reclaimed by applying lime. Though they grow on all types of soils, medium textured silt loams or clay loams are best suitable for obtaining profitable yields. It is very sensitive to high concentration of aluminium and manganese. B. Climate In plains, french beans are grown as a winter crop and in hills, they can be cultivated throughout the year except in winters as the crop is frost-sensitive. It cannot withstand drought as well as heavy rainfall. Most of the trench beans are day neutrals, i.e., the length of the day does not affect their seedling habit. The optimum soil temperature is 25-30o Centigrade. For pole types maximum temperature for seed germination and growth is 25C and minimum ranges between 1.8-20 o centigrade. The seeds will not germinate in cold soils. On the mid-hills of North-eastern region, pole beans are grown from March to December even at 32C temperature. Beans are sensitive to very high temperatures besides frost. The plants drop their blossoms or pods during hot weather. The best pod is obtained at 15.6 to 21.1 Centigrade temperature. IV. Varieties Basically, varieties are divided into two types. The bushy type is dwarf and needs no support while pole type is climbing in nature and need to be staked with the help of poles. These bush and pole types are also classified according to their pod characteristics, whether the pods

are green, yellow or purple, fiat, oval or round. Here, we will see the description of main cultivated varieties of french beans in our country in general. 1. Giant stringlers It is an introduced, early maturing variety with bushy habit. The pod is green, medium large, long, slightly curled, tender, meaty and stringlers. Seeds are glossy and yellowish brown. This variety is highly productive in nature. 2. Contender It is an introduced bushy variety which is a high yielder. It has light-green, fleshy and thick pods without fibres It matures 4 to 5 days earlier than Giant stringlers and produces higher yields in the plains. 3. Pusa Parvati It is a new variety developed through X-ray irradiation of an American variety, "Wax Pod" at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. It is an early bush type with attractive round, meaty, light green pods which matures in 40-45 days. It gives 12-25 q/ha more yield than the variety contender when grown in the hills. 4. Arka Komal This variety was developed by Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bangalore. It has got green, fleshy, tender, long and straight pods. The maturity period is 70-75 days. The yield is about 200-250 q/ha of green pods. 5. Kentucky wonder It is a late introduced variety with vine growth habit. The pods are green, fleshy, large, curved, round, thick and meaty which becomes stringy at the later stages. The seed is light brown. 6. Bayo Plants are medium, semi trailing, foliage is medium green in colour, flowers are white, seeds are thin and pods are medium to late maturity type. 7. Blue pod medium Pods are medium in number with blue flacking having white seeds. 8. Brown sweedish Plants are dwarf, upright with dark green foliage. Pods are medium in number and seeds are light brown in colour. 9. California cream Plants are medium in height and foliage is dark green. Pods are medium in number with greenish yellow seeds. 10. Michigan robust Pods are numerous and the characteristic feature is, its immunity to mosaic disease. 11. Red Kidney Seeds are pink when newly harvested and dark red when old. This variety is resistant to mosaic disease.

12. Premier It is a heavy yielding bush type. Seeds are black. It comes up well in the plains of Tamil Nadu. It is adapted for late sowings. 13. Bountiful It is also a heavy yielding bushy type. It comes up well when raised during September to February in South India. Clusters of beans are borne on the main stem. The tender green pods are ready for harvest within a week of flowering. Its yield is 4-5 tonnes per acre. The pods remain tender even when left un)1arvested. 14. Japan It is a Mexican variety reported to be outstanding in performance in Maharashtra. The plant has a slight tillering habit. It flowers in about 47 days and the first picking is obtained after two months of sowing. In all, eight pickings within 40 days are obtained. The seeds are black, smooth, small and flat. V. Planting Requirements The cultivation of french beans is generally undertaken during winters because its growth requires cool climate. In Northern India it is grown in August-September and also from December to February. In South and Eastern India it is cultivated from August -April. A. Sowing time . If the beans are grown in the plains, there are two seasons for sowing. The first sowing is down in July and the second sowing can be done in the month of January. In the hilly regions, sowing is done from March to the beginning of May. B. Seed rate and spacing Most of the recommended varieties are bushy type. For planting a hectare of bush variety, about 85 kg of seeds are required. Seeds may be dibbled with hand or drilled mechanically at a depth of 2 to 3 centimetres. Broadcasting can also be done but it interferes with cultural operations. Plant to plant spacing of bush varieties is 10 cms where as row-row distance is 60-70 centimetres. Narrow row spacing increases the number of pods per plant, but the weight of the pods will be less. So, it should be avoided. Pole beans are sown in hills at about one metres distance both between the rows and plants. At least 5-6 seeds can be sown in each hill and later on thinning can be done to 3-4 plants. The seed rate required is 30 kg per hectare. In most parts of our country pole beans are staked on poles or dry branches of plants. For continuous harvesting of beans, 2 or 3 plantings should be done at regular intervals. The ridges on which sowing is done should be kept moist at the time of sowing to obtain good and uniform germination. C. Seed treatment The beans have the capacity of fixing the atmospheric nitrogen as nitrogen-fixing bacteria symbiotically lives in their roots. Even then, 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 on the roots, thus enabling the plant to fix nitrogen quickly. The other type of seed treatment is to protect the seed from diseases and improve the germination. Seed treatment with benomyl or thiram or captan is also recommended to avoid fungal diseases.

VI. Cultivation After sowing the seed, proper management of soil increases the yield. A. Irrigation As beans are shallow rooted, they are sensitive to excess moisture. Good crops can be produced with very little moisture applied during the season. The soil should be moist while sowing. After the sowing, the irrigation should be done whenever necessary. Application of water just before flowering helps in setting pods. Another irrigation can be immediately after pod-set. It is essential to maintain available soil moisture above 50 percent during flowering and pod development. About 6-7 irrigations during the growing season would be required at regular intervals. B. Manuring and fertilization Bean is a leguminous crop. It has a capacity of fixing atmospheric nitrogen into the roots with the help of rhizobia bacteria which resides in the roots. This inherent capacity of the plant to fix atmospheric nitrogen leads to the poor response to applied nitrogen. As such only phosphatic and potassic fertilizers are recommended. A starter dose of nitrogen should also be given. As the time of preparation of the land, 25-50 tonnes of farm yard manure per hectare should be applied. It is estimated that a yield of 800 kg grain and 700 kg of straw, removed 73.5 kg of nitrogen, 31 kg of phosphate and 61 kg of potash from the soil. So, application of 250 kg of ammonium sulphate, 500 kg of single super phosphate and 125 kg of potassium sulphate is recommended. The fertilizers should be placed in bands about 7-8 cms at the side of the seed or slightly deeper than the seed. Nitrogen can be applied in split doses, first dose at the time of sowing and the second dose about 20-25 days after sowing. Under acidic conditions, along with N.P.K. a basal .application of 4.8 q/ha of lime is also recommended to get increased yields. Among the minor elements, magnesium and zinc enhance the vitamin C content. Calcium and magnesium deficiency results in low protein content. Spraying with trace elements like iron, zinc, copper and manganese along with calcium and magnesium, produces a high quality and increased yields, C. Weed control Inadequate weed control reduces the yield, hand howing is often necessary to control the weed growth. Spraying of chemical herbicides is an effective way of weed control. Dinitro materials are can be sprayed as soil application at the rate of 5-8 kg per hectare. The other chemical found to be effective is sodium salt of penta-chlorophenol. It can be applied as a preemergence herbicide at the rate of 45 kg per hectare. D. Effect of growth regulators Application of growth substances improves the plant growth, flowering and yield of pod in french bean.. GA, (gibberilic acid) spray at 50-200 ppm increases the plant height and number of leaves. Spraying of cycocel promotes early flowering. Plant regulators like parachlorophenoxy acetic acid at 2 ppm, alpha naphthyl-acetamide or beta-naphthoxy acetic acid at 5-25 ppm can be sprayed to induce fruit set. Increase in pod-set can also be seen \\rith the use of gibberellins. VII. Diseases and Pests

The production of beans is greatly reduced by diseases and pests. A. Diseases Fungal, bacterial and viral diseases of french bean are described here along with their control measures. i. Anthracnose A fungus known as Colletotrichum lindemuthianum causes this disease. Yellowish to brown sunken cankers are produced and cool and humid weather is the predisposing factor. Control As the infected seeds carry the fungus, seed treatment is essential. Treating the seeds with 0.125 percent of cerasan solution for half an hour is effective. Use of resistant varieties like tweed wonder is also recommended. 2. Powdery mildew It is caused by Erysiphe polygoni, a lungus which attacks the leaves first and later spreads to the stem and pods. White powdery spots which enlarge and combine with others to form eventually an almost complete coating of a whitish powder is the important symptom. Severe infection leads to defoliation. Control Dusting with powdered sulphur or spraying with wettable sulphur or kethane are recommended for control. 3. Rust High relative humidity is responsible for the occurrence of this disease along with the fungus, Uromyces phaseoli typica. Minute, white raised spots appear on the lower surface of the leaves which gradually become dark brown to black in colour. Control Dusting of 25-30 kg fine sulphur is recommended as a preventive measure. Rust resistant varieties should be used where the disease is prevalent. 4. Ashy stem blight This fungal disease is caused by Macrophomina phaseoli which produces black, sunken canker on seedlings. It spreads very rapidly to the entire stem, often killing it. Control Disease free seed should be used and dusting with 2% ceresan is also recommended. 5. Common blight It is a bacterial disease which is caused by Xanthomonas phaseoli. The symptoms of the disease are the water soaked spots which appear on the lower side of the leaf. These spots enlarge and coalesce and turn brown giving a burnt appearance. Insects like grass hopper and Mexican bean beetle transmit this disease. Control Use of disease free seed, long rotation and use of resistant varieties are the control measures. 6. Mosaic disease

This disease is a viral disease which causes stunting of the plants, mottling and leaf malformation. The main insect vectors are species of Aphis. The only satisfactory method is use of resistant varieties. B. Pests The important pests that attack french beans are bean aphids beetles weevils and thrips. 1. Bean aphids Aphis craccivora infestation causes characteristic damage to tender aerial parts of the plants and produces symptoms like curling of leaves, twisting of twigs and shedding of flowers. Control Spraying with 0.05% phosphomidon or 0.025% methyl demeton can easily control this disease. 2. Beetles Epilachna varivestis is the causal organism which is commonly known as Mexican bean beetle. Both larvae and adults feed on the leaves, usually on the lower side. Control Spraying with 4% rotenone and cryolite at the rate of 1.5 kg in 225 litres of water are recommended. Spraying with sevin and malathion is also effective. While spraying we should take care that the lower surface of the leaves get well coverage. 3. Weevil These are mostly found in the stored seed beans. The eggs are laid in the fields and grubs develop in the seeds and get transformed into beetles. They cut a circular opening while emerging out of the seed. Control The weevils can be killed by fumigating with carbon- disulphide at the rate of 1.5 -4 kg to each 30 cubic metre of space to be fumigated. DDT at 3% can also be dusted on the seeds which are stored for sowing purposes. Soil treatment with BHC or dieldrin at 2 -5 kg a.i/ha is also recommended. 4. Thrips Infested leaves turn pale and drop. Infested pods exhibit silvery white colour. Spraying with DDT and rogor is effective in controlling this pest. 5. Stem fly The maggot of Ophiomyia phaseoli causes drying of the plants when enters into the stem. Control It can be controlled by spraying the crop with 0.03% diazinon or 0.05% quinalphos. Placing of 3% carbofuran capsules before sowing can also prevent this disease. 6. Seed corn maggot This maggot attacks the germinating seeds and completely destroy the seedling causing reduction in the yield.

Control Coating of the seed with an insecticide, such as chlordane, lindane or aldrin applied as a slurry is recommended. Also, sowing should not be done in the land where organic manures are not well decomposed. VIII. Harvesting and Storage The french bean comes to harvest from 40 days onwards after germination depending on the variety. It takes about 2-3 weeks after flowering for the first picking of the pods. Green pods are usually harvested when they are fully grown and the seeds are small. Bean pods ripens progressively upward from the base of the plant. The entire ripening period usually extends for several days. Harvesting should be done by picking and it is not advisable to postpone the harvesting because the mature pods may shatter the seeds. About 2-3 pickings are made for bush beans and for pole brans it is 3-5 pickings. Usually hand picking is done. Dry beans are harvested when a large percentage of pods are fully ripe and most of the remainder turn yellow. Harvesting should be started before the lower pods become dry enough to shatter. These beans require one or two weeks to cure, after which they are threshed. The yield of green pods in the bush varieties may be on an average 3-4 tonnes per hectare and pole varieties 7-10 tonnes/hectare. The yield of dry beans varies from 1200-1800 kg per hectare. Storage Well matured and cured beans contain approximately 14% per cent moisture and immediately after the harvest it is 18%. Culinary quality, colour, viability and longevity are affected by conditions of humidity and temperature in the storage environment. Dry seeds should contain 13-17% moisture, high in protein, fat and carbohydrates. Longevity of seeds depends on keeping low humidity conditions during storage. Viability depreciates under high humidity conditions. IX. Composition French bean is mostly grown as green vegetable. It is a nutritious vegetable. Dry (field) and green (garden) beans rank high as a cheap source of nourishing food. They arc a valuable source of protein, calcium, iron and vitamins. A nutritive analysis of the pod of french bean is given here. Composition of french bean per 100 g edible portion Moisture Fat Protein Carbohydrates Minerals Fibre Calories Phosphorus Potassium Calcium Magnesium Sulphur 91.4 g 0.1 g 1.7 g 4.5 g 0.5 g 1.8 g 26 28 mg 129 mg 50 mg 29 mg 37 mg

Chlorine Sodium Iron Copper Vitamin A Riboflavin. Vitamin C Thiamine Nicotinic acid -

10 mg 4.5 mg 1.7 mg 0.21 mg 221 I.U. 0.06 mg 14 mg 0.08 mg 0.3 mg

Pods contain pectic substances as calcium pectate on 9- 15% dry basis. With the maturity of the pods, protein ascorbic acid, copper and phosphorus contents increases. The dried beans are marketed under the name of rajmah. They are rich in protein. %%%%%%%%%%