Beans (shim) are a popular vegetable in Bangladesh. They are rich in protein, and the seeds can also be eaten as a vegetable. Besides fields, beans can be grown along roadsides, on field ridges, on roofs and even up trees.

Beans grow well in loam and sandy loam soil. The country has more than fifty local bean varieties, as well as modern high-yielding ones.

The right time to sow is from the Bengali month of Asar to Bhadra. If beans are sown in rows, four to five seeds should be given, and 15 kg per hectare is enough. If sown in pits, four to five seeds should be given, and 10 kg per hectare is sufficient.

When growing on a larger area, it is good to plough and ladder the land several times. Each pit should be 45 cm long, wide and deep, and the distance from one pit to the next should be 3.0 metres.

Per pit, apply 10 kg of cow dung, 200 g of oilcake, 2 kg of ash, 100 g of TSP and 50 g of MoP when making the pit. After the seedlings emerge, apply 50 g of urea and 50 g of MoP in two instalments at intervals of 14 to 21 days.

Sow four to five seeds per pit. Soak the seeds for 10 to 12 hours before sowing. Keep two or three healthy seedlings in each pit and pull out the rest.

Do not let water stand at the base of the plants. Irrigate as needed in the dry season, and loosen the soil with a weeder from time to time. When the plants are 15 to 20 cm tall, push bamboo tips into the soil beside the base of the plants in each pit to provide support for climbing.

Flowers appear in Ashwin and Kartik. The crop can be picked 20 to 25 days after flowering, and the plants bear for more than four months. The yield is 35 to 75 kg per decimal, or 10 to 15 tonnes per hectare.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.