It's December in Goa, and the tourist season is at its peak, buzzing with year-end excitement. The local agricultural community is busy with the rabi crops, which are a key part of Goa's winter and spring seasons.
The fields in Goa are sown with leguminous crops as the Vaingonn crop in winter.
‘Legumes’ is a French word which means ‘vegetables’ and pods of French beans, cluster beans, yard-long beans, sword beans, green peas, cowpeas, etc are used as vegetables locally, though the dried seeds of some are used as grains or pulses. Pulses have about 18 percent protein.
In India, vegetarians consume these legumes, or pulses, as their source of protein.
The meat protein-consuming Englishmen of the East India Company and British Raj called this food cow-pea, chick-pea, pigeon-pea, horse-gram, etc, which also belonged to the same family of plants as their beans.
Legumes are associated with bacteria for symbiotic nitrogen-fixing and belong to the undivided botanical ‘family’ Leguminosae. The family Leguminosae has now been split into four separate families – Fabaceae, Mimosaceae, Papillonaceae and Caesalpiniaceae, according to the new rules of botanical classification.
Seed treatment with Rhizobium culture had been recommended in fields since the 1980s because the use of urea in local fields since the mid-1960s had reduced the population of this useful bacteria in the soil.
With an increasing number of farmers returning to natural and organic farming practices, this may soon be unnecessary.
The tradition of sowing cowpea, Vigna unguiculata, in rice fallows soon after harvesting the kharif or monsoon crop has several benefits.
In India, vegetarians consume these legumes, or pulses, as their source of protein.
After just one ploughing, the seeds of cowpea, locally known as alsandde or chauli, is broadcast all over the field. It enriches the soil with nitrogen and prevents weed growth during the fallow season.
The pods are used as vegetable, the seeds as pulses, and the plant makes very nutritious cattle feed. It provides additional income to the farmer while reducing fodder, fertiliser and weed control costs.
Legumes are recommended as an intercrop in fodder grass and maize. It is good to always include pulses in your garden and field crops.
Cluster beans, yard-long beans and cowpea can also be grown in home gardens. They attract aphids from the time of flowering and all along their pods. These soft bodied, sticky insects will cover the entire pod and make them appear grey or black in colour.
Cluster beans are the favourite of aphids. To deal with this problem, spray these plants with Beauvaria bassiana suspension at the rate of 10 ml per litre of water. One spray is enough for the whole season.
They attract aphids from the time of flowering and all along their pods. These soft bodied, sticky insects will cover the entire pod and make them appear grey or black in colour.
The Solanaceous crops of chillies, capsicum, tomato, cherry tomato and brinjal or eggplant, are good to grow at this time of the year. One can also grow knol-kohl. Seeds must be sown in seedling trays or on raised beds and transplanted when they attain four to six leaves.
Seedlings are normally available early on Friday mornings at Mapusa’s Friday market. Radish seeds must be sown directly on raised beds or ridges to remove the root crop out easily.
Seeds are available through the Directorate of Agriculture, the Goa Bagayatdar Society and other seed dealers in Goa.
The weather, this year, is unpredictable, making it uncertain to sow cabbage, cauliflower or broccoli.
(The author is the former Chairman of the GCCI Agriculture Committee, CEO of Planter's Choice Pvt Ltd, Additional Director of OFAI and Garden Superintendent of Goa University, and has edited 18 books for Goa & Konkan)