Steem-agro Contest: "Bean Crop Farming"

Beans is indeed a good legume which is highly proteinous in nature and attracts individuals to consume it because of this. I usually consume beans three times a week and I most confess that it really tastes good and delicious. Beans is mainly cultivated in Africa and India, I like beans because it is highly nutritious and makes humans have energy to perform they daily activities.

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What are the factors that determine the best planting time for beans, and how can farmers achieve this?

Beans is a legume with a lot of factors that which determine the best planting time for it, which are.

1. Climatic factors: climate is the average weather condition of a place at a particular period of time. When ever they is intense rainfall during the rainy season time beans tend to grow with low yield due to the high amount of rainfall. But during the time when the rain falls moderately and they is sun shine beans grow well.

2. Months without too much rainfall like from June to Agust which is when the planting of beans take place in Nigeria. The rainfall during this months will greatly aid the growth and maturity of the beans.

3. Soil texture/Adaptability & type: the soil type also has a significant role to play in the planting time for beans. If the soil doesn't get soft until the rain falls, the time for planting will be delayed, the ability for the soil to also adapt to any kind of insects can also determine the time for planting, loamy is the best soil for cultivation and is the best for cultivating beans as well.

4. Temperature of the place of cultivation: Beans are usually meant to be planted in a location where they is constant sun and also in a drained soil. Beans are meant to stay under 6.0 to 6.5 pH range. The process of cultivating beans in pots and raised beds well help to keep the soil warm to make sure it stays above ground level.

Farmers can achieve this by following the guidelines as a farmer and always planting during the planting season and using organic ways of cultivation of crops at the right time.

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There are different bean varieties across the globe, (e.g., snap beans, kidney beans, black eyed beans), do they differ in terms of growth habits, disease resistance, and market demand? Tell us.

Growth habits

Black eyed beans are usually grown in Asia, they are likely to be good in warm temperate region. It usually takes 60 to 100 days with winter in other to grow and mature. You have to plant them in a loamy soil for quicker maturity especially when the soil temperature is above 60 degrees.

Kidney beans are usually grown in a low bush are also known as (bush beans). This beans grow more faster in acidic, fertile to neutral (pH ranging from 6.0 to 7.0). In grows where they are much sun which last at least 6-8 hours sunlight per day hence this bean is a day neutral plant.

Snap beans are planted 1 inch deep and covered in the soil properly. The seeds usually germinate within 7-14 days. Snap beans usually prefer warm day and cool nights.

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Disease resistance

They are two diseases which affect snap bean which are Halo blight, caused by pseudomonas syringea pv. phaseolicola. And bacterial blight, caused by Xanthomonas phaseoli. It is also affected by mosaic virus.

The most perfered beans is the kidney beans because of it's faster mode of growing and it high nutritional value.

What home remedies can bean farmers use to minimize chemical/inorganic use while controlling pests?

Minimizing inorganic/chemical application while controlling pest is one of the ways of having good and nutritious crops.

1. Crop rotation; crop rotation is a way of organically controlling pests and diseases. It is a process of cultivating different kinds of crops one a piece land year after year. You should practice crop rotation every two years before planting beans.

2. Biological method; this is the act of the introduction of the natural enemies of pests in other to make them go out of the farm to avoid getting consumed by they enemies. E.g 🐈 - 🐀.

3. We can also make use of fences to block the passage way for these pests without penetrating the farm. We can also make use of scarecrow in our beans farm to keep animals and birds 🐦 🐦 from attacking crops.

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1. We can also drop things like fruits and traps which pests and animals are afraid of in other to control pest.

2. We can abide by the planting procedures, which are planting at the proper time and weeding in due time,. regularly visit your farm and harvest crops at the expected time.

How do we store bean in our homes to main their quality and shelf life?

Beans are legumes which can get spoiled if not preserved properly, here are the various ways of preserving beans.

✅ You can make beans last long when you store them glass jars, mylar bags etc.

✅ We should always ensure that are Beans are been stored in a cool and dry place for effective preservation.

✅ Beans can also be preserved by sun drying them which will make it look more good and nutritious during consumption.

✅ Make sure that your beans at home are stored in containers to increase it's lifespan of being consume able.

I now want to invite @comfortpeter, @entity01, @chisom77 and @ahmneska to participate in this contest.

✓Thanks for reading my post