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Phaseolus vulgaris L.

Fabaceae
Bean, Common bean, Caraota, Feijao, French bean, Kidney bean, Haricot bean, Field bean, Poroto, Snap bean, String bean, Frijol, Wax bean

Source: James A. Duke. 1983. Handbook of Energy Crops. unpublished.

  1. Uses
  2. Folk Medicine
  3. Chemistry
  4. Toxicity
  5. Description
  6. Germplasm
  7. Distribution
  8. Ecology
  9. Cultivation
  10. Harvesting
  11. Yields and Economics
  12. Energy
  13. Biotic Factors
  14. Chemical Analysis of Biomass Fuels
  15. References

Uses

Common bean is most widely cultivated of all beans in temperate regions, and widely cultivated in semitropical regions. In temperate regions the green immature pods are cooked and eaten as a vegetable. Immature pods are marketed fresh, frozen or canned, whole, cut or french-cut. Mature ripe beans, variously called navy beans, white beans, northern beans, or pea beans, are widely consumed. In lower latitudes, dry beans furnish a large portion of the protein needs of low and middle class families. In some parts of the tropics leaves are used as a pot-herb, and to a lesser extent the green-shelled beans are eaten. In Java, young leaves are eaten as a salad. After beans are harvested, straw is used for fodder.

Folk Medicine

Beans are said to be used for acne,bladder, burns, cardiac, carminative, depurative, diabetes, diarrhea, diuretic, dropsy, dysentery, eczema, emolient, hiccups, itch, kidney, resolvent, rheumatism, sciatica, and tenesmus.

Chemistry

Beans are a high nutritive, relatively low-cost protein food. Green snap beans contain 6.2% protein, 0.2% fat, and 63% carbohydrate. Analysis of a sample of dried beans marketed under the name 'Rajmah' gave the following values: moisture, 12.0%; protein, 22.9%; fat, 1.3%; carbohydrates, 60.6%; and minerals, 3.2%; Ca, 260 mg; P, 410 mg; and iron, 5.8 mg.; 346 calories/100 g. The vitamin contents of the dried beans are: thiamine, 0.6; riboflavin, 0.2; nicotinic acid, 2.5; and ascorbic acid, 2.0 mg/100. Analysis of dried beans from another source yielded: Na, 43.2; K, 1160; Ca, 180; Mg, 183; Fe, 6.6; Cu, 0.61; P, 309; S, 166; and Cl, 1.8 mg/100 g. Beans also contain I (1.4 mg/100 g), Mn (1.8 mg/100 g), and arsenic (0.03 mg/100 g). Raw immature pods of green, and yellow or wax snap beans are reported to contain per 100 g, 32 and 27 calories, 90.1 and 91.4 g moisture, 1.9 and 1.7 g protein, 0.2 g fat, 7.1 and 6.0 g total carbohydrate, 1.0 g fiber, and 0.7 g ash, respectively. Raw pods of kidney beans contain (per 100 g edible portion): 150 calories, 60.4% moisture, 9.8 g protein, 0.3 g fat, 27.8 g total carbohydrate, 2.3 g fiber, 1.7 g ash, 59 mg Ca, 213 mg P, 3.6 mg Fe, 10 mg vitamin A, 0.38 mg thiamine, 0.12 mg riboflavin, 1.5 mg niacin, 7 mg ascorbic acid. Raw dried mature seeds of white, red, and pinto beans are reported to contain per 100 g: 340, 343, and 349 calories, 10.9, 10.4, and 8.3% moisture, 22.3, 22.5, and 22.9 g protein, 1.6, 1.5, and 1.2 g fat, 61.3, 61.9, and 63.7 g total carbohydrate, 4.3, 4.2, and 4.3 g fiber, 3.9, 3.7, and 3.9 g ash, respectively. Whole seeds of kidney beans contain (per 100 g): 86 mg Ca, 247 mg P, 716 mg Fe, 5 mg vitamin A, 0.54 mg thiamine, 0.19 mg riboflavin, 2.1 mg niacin, 3 mg ascorbic acid. Whole seeds cooked contain: 141 calories, 68.0% moisture, 5.9 g protein, 5.7 g fat, 17.9 g total carbohydrate, 1.1 g fiber, 2.5 g ash, 46 mg Ca, 120 mg P, and 1.9 mg Fe. Raw leaves contain (per 100 g): 36 calories, 86.8% moisture, 3.6 g protein, 0.4 g fat, 6.6 g total carbohydrate, 2.8 g fiber, 2.6 g ash, 2 74 mg Ca, 75 mg P, 9.2 mg Fe, 3,230 mg b-carotene equivalent, 0.18 mg thiamine, 0.06 mg riboflavin, 1.3 mg niacin, 110 mg ascorbic acid. After harvest, plants can be fed to cattle, sheep, and horses. It is satisfactory as a part of the roughage when fed with good hay and is comparable to corn and sorghum fodder in nutritive value. Analysis of a sample gave the following values: moisture, 10.9; protein, 6.1; fat, 1.4; N-free extract, 34.1; fiber, 40.1; ash, 7.4; Ca, 1.7; P, 0.1; K, 1.0; digestible protein, 3.0; and total digestible nutrients, 45.2%; nutritive ratio, 14.1. After pod removal, silage may be prepared from green vines. Dehydrated bean vine meal prepared from green plants after pod removal is comparable to alfalfa meal as a vitamin supplement for chicks. It contains protein, 18.3; digestible protein, 12.3; and total digestible nutrients, 46.3%; nutritive ratio, 2.8. Meal made from vines with mature leaves is inferior in quality. Leaves contain carotene (178.8 mg/100 g), thiamine, riboflavin, nicotinic acid, folic acid, and pantothenic acid. They contain also a quercetin glycoside. The hull is said to yield 0.13% rubber. The leaves, are said to contain allantoin.

Toxicity

The roots are reported to cause giddiness in human beings and animals. Seeds are reported to contain trypsin and chymotrypsin inhibitors. After eating only a few raw beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) or dried beans (P. coccineus), three boys, 4 to 8 years old rapidly developed symptoms of poisoning, notably sickness and diarrhea. Phasin, a toxalbumin destroyed by cooking, was considered responsible. All boys had normal aminotransferase values and parenteral treatment with fluid and electrolytes let to complete recovery in 12 to 24 hours (Haidvogl et al., 1979).

Description

Highly polymorphic species; annual herb, erect and bushy, 20–60 cm tall, or twining with stems 2–3 m long; with a taproot and nitrogenous nodules; (although the germinating bean has a tap root, adventitious roots usually emerge 1–2 days after germination, to dominate the tap root which remains 10–15 cm long); leaves alternate, green or purple, trifoliolate, stipulate, petiolate, a marked pulvinus at base; leaflets ovate, entire; acuminate, 6–15 cm long, 3–11 cm wide; flowers in lax, axillary few-flowered (12) racemes, zygomorphic, variegated, white, pink, or purplish, ca 1 cm long; pods slender, green, yellow, black, or purple, cylindrical or flat, 8–20 cm long, 1–1.5 cm wide; seeds 4–6-(12), usually glabrous, sometimes puberulent, beak prominent; seeds white, red, tan, purple, grey or black, often variegated, reniform, oblong or globose, up to 1.5 cm long, endosperm absent; 100 seeds weigh 10–67 g, depending on cv; germination phanerocotylar.

Germplasm

More than 14,000 cvs are recorded; the major repository and distributor is CIAT in Cali, Colombia. In the United States, they are grouped mainly into early-maturing bush types and later-maturing pole types. Dry-shelled beans are grouped into the following four types: (1) red kidney beans, 1.5 cm or more long, important in Latin America; (2) medium field beans, 1–1.2 cm long, pinkish-buff with brown spots, grown extensively in the United States as 'Pinto'; (3) marrow beans, 1–1.5 cm long, as 'Yellow Eye'; and (4) pea or navy beans, 8 mm or less long, grown extensively in California. Black beans are gaining in importance in some areas. In Latin America and Africa, regional preferences are strong for seed-coat color and brilliance. Venezuela and Guatemala favor black-seeded beans; Colombia and Honduras, red; Peru, cream or tan; Brazil, black or tan. Growth form in Ph. vulgaris and other Phaseolus spp. depends on two factors—number of nodes produced (oligonodal vs. polynodal) and internode length (long vs. short). Three definite forms are produced for cultivation: (1) polynodal with long internodes—climber; (2) polynodal with short internodes—indeterminant dwarf; and (3) oligonodal with short internodes—determinant dwarf. Two distinct leaf-size grades can also be distinguished in combination with these. With the range of seed sizes and shapes plus testa colors the possible range of distinct types is enormous. Snapbeans cv 'Mild White Giant' is reportedly tolerant to "adverse conditions", 'OSU 2065', 'Purley King' (British peabean requiures temperature of 120–13°C at soil depth of 10 cm), 'SRS 1884' to cool weather, 'Royalty' to cold soil, 'Longval' to drought, 'Alabama Al', 'Ashley Wax', 'Choctaw', 'Cooper Wax', 'Logan', and 'Longval' to heat, 'Pacer' to short season, and 'Royalty' to wet soil. Among dry beans cv 'Criolla' is reportedly tolerant to heat and 'Bonita', 'Borinquen', and 'Criolla' to tropical conditions. Assigned to the Middle and South American Centers of Diversity, common bean or cvs thereof is reported to exhibit tolerance to aluminum, bacteria, disease, drought, herbicide, hydrogen flouride, high pH, laterite, low pH, manganese, peat, photoperiod, smog, SO2, virus, and water excess. Pathogen tolerances are surveyed in Horsfal et al. (1972). "Perhaps the most significant event in recent bean breeding is Honma's interspecific cross, P. vulgaris x P. acutifolius, accomplished via tissue culture. This hybrid transferred the tepary's tolerance to Xanthosoma phaseoli, the casual agent of common bean blight, to the Great Northern cultivar of P. vulgaris. Honma had been unable to find a useful level of tolerance in other beans, and progeny from his interspecific hybrid made possible the development of blight tolerance in other Phaseolus cultivars around the world." (Nabhan and Felger, 1978). (x = ll, 2n = 22)

Distribution

Common beans are native to the New World, probably Central Mexico and Guatemala. They were taken to Europe by the Spaniards and Portuguese who also took them to Africa and other parts of the Old World. Now they are widely cultivated in the tropics, subtropics and temperate regions. Roughly 30% of world production is in Latin America. They are less known in India, where other pulses are preferred.

Ecology

Beans tolerate most environmental conditions in tropical and temperate zones, but do poorly in very wet tropics where rain causes disease and flower drop. Rain is undesirable when dry seeds are harvested. Frost kills plant. There are both short-day and day-neutral cvs. Excessive water will injure plants in a few hours, but some black-seeded cvs will grow well in standing water. Beans grow best in well-drained, sandy loam, silt loam or clay loam soils, rich in organic content, but are sensitive to concentrations of Al, B, Mn, and Na. Below pH 5.2 Mn toxicity may be a problem. In calcareous soils, zinc deficiencies can be serious in sandy acid soils, Mg and Mo deficiencies may arise. At EC (conductivity) 1500 (EC of saturation extract) garden bean yields are decreased by 10%, by 25% at EC of 2000, and by 50% at EC of 3500. French or snap beans seem more sensitive to Na than many other cvs. Temperatures of -5° to -6°C are harmful at germination, -2° to -3°C at flowering and -3° to -4°C at fruiting. Some cvs withstand short frosts as low as -3°C. The optimum monthly temperature for growth is 15.6°C–21.1°C, the maximum ca 27°.C, the minimum ca 10°C. Blossum-drop is serious above 30°C, and can completely prevent seed set above 35°C. Beans are traditionally a subtropical or temperate crop. In the tropics they are normally found in montane valleys (800–2,000 m). Very few beans are grown in hot humid tropics where cowpeas fare better. Five different writers give five different pH ranges. Our computer program reported 4.2–8.7; average of 144 cases was 6.4. Other values were 5.5–6.8, 5.5–7.5, 6.0–7.0, and 6.0–7.5. Ranging from Boreal Moist to Wet through Tropical Very Dry to Wet Forest Life Zones, common bean is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 0.9–42.9 dm (mean of 217 cases = 12.8), annual mean temperature of 5.7°–28.5°C (mean of 216 cases = 19.3), and pH of 4.2–8.7 (mean of 144 cases = 6–4).

Cultivation

In temperate areas, seed should be planted about the same time as corn, when soil has become warm. Germination is rapid at soil temperatures above 18°C. In pure stands, bush cvs give good yields at 30 by 30 cm spacings, but wider spacing facilitates weeding. Pole beans are usually planted 4–6 seeds in hills spaced about 1 m apart at a seeding rate of nearly 80 kg/ha. Seed rates are 20–115 kg/ha depending on the cv, seed size, and width of row; 'Red Kidney', 'Marrow', and 'Yellow Eye' at 75–100 kg/ha; 'Pea Beans', 'Black Turtle Soup', at 30–40 kg/ha; row widths 70–75 or 80 cm. Some pole beans are sown at rates as low as 25 kg/ha. Seed of good quality is essential for production of dry beans. Susceptibility to diseases, mechanical injury, frost damage, and wet weather damage at harvest time, and cracked seedcoats should be considered. With a corn, bean or beat drill with removable plates, beans are usually planted 5–8 cm deep, deep enough to give good coverage and sufficient moisture to promote fast germination and growth. Plants should be cultivated to control weeds; care should be taken late in the season to avoid injuring roots extending out between the rows just beneath soil surface. Inoculation of seed with nitrogen-fixing bacteria is unnecessary for dry beans. Beans should be rotated with other crops to maintain high yields and quality and to reduce the hazard of diseases which may survive in the soil or on plant refuse in the soil. In the tropics beans are often interplanted with such crops as coffee, corn, cotton, sweet potatoes, and little or no fertilization is employed, although the plant does respond to nitrogen. Still, as much as 25 MT/ha barnyard manure is recommended. In the US applications of nitrogen and phosphate are applied. Irrigation is beneficial in semiarid regions, with overhead preferred to flood irrigation. Mixtures of cvs are often sown. In Latin America, ca 70% of the beans are interplanted with corn. Grown alone, they are planted at 200,000–250,000 plants per hectare in 50 cm rows with 5–10 cm between seed. Bush beans are planted 30 x 30 or 50–60 x 5–10 cm, the latter permitting easier cultivation. Latin American bean production is mainly on marginal soil, nearly always with P deficiency, commonly with N problems as well; neither credit nor fertilizer are too often available.

Harvesting

Beans mature very quickly and green beans may be harvested 4–6 weeks after sowing. In early snap bean cvs, harvest begins in 7–8 weeks, 1 or 2 weeks after flowering. Beans should be picked every 3–4 days. Bush beans mature over a short time; pole beans continue to bear for a long time. Dry beans should be harvested when most pods are fully mature and have turned color. To minimize shatter, harvesters should not shake the vines. The cutter consists of 2 broad blades set to cut 2 adjacent rows about 5 cm below the ground. Then prongs pull plants from both rows into one windrow in wet weather; plants are forked into field stacks ca 1.3 m in diameter and 2–3 m high that are supported by a center stake. In the third world, beans are usually hand harvested, or manually gathered and windrowed. Plants are pulled, dried, and threshed; sometimes beans are handshelled.

Yields and Economics

Yields vary widely with cv, culture and region. In the United States yields for dried beans average 1,000–1,500 kg/ha; for Mexican and Colombian hybrids, up to 2,500 kg/ha; in Mauritius, 250–1,500 kg/ha, depending on cv; in Egypt, 500 kg/ha; in Kenya and Malawi, 300–1,000 kg/ha; in Great Britain, 1,200 kg/ha. Yields of immature snap beans average about 4.5 MT/ha, but higher yields have been reported. Maximum reported experimental yields of dry beans exceed 5.5 MT/ha (bush beans). At CIAT, bush bean yields of 4.5 MT/ha and trellis-bean yields of 5.8 MT/ha were reported for a 100-200-day-growth cycle. Association with corn reduced such yields to ca 2 MT/ha. In 1975, the world harvest was 13,227,000 MT of dry beans from 24,715,000 ha for an average yield of 535 kg/ha. Yields were highest (2,374 kg/ha) in the Netherlands. Asia had the largest hectarage (11,697,000 ha) followed by South America (4,636,000 ha) and Africa (3,066,000 ha). India with yields of only 313 kg/ha is estimated to have produced 2,500,000 MT; China, with 937 kg/ha, 2,399,000 MT; Brazil, 563 kg/ha, 2,280,000 MT; and Mexico, with 801 kg/ha, 1,202,000 MT. By contrast the US with yields of 1332 kg/ha produced 780,000 MT (FAO 1976). Common beans of various types are nearly cosmopolitan, except in tropical Asia, where native pulses are preferred. England imports haricot beans from Japan, Chile, US, Ethiopia, Mozambique, East Africa, and Malawi. In 1969, Japan imported about 18,000 MT from the US, and Israel, and the Philippines imported about 1450 MT (dry beans). Latin America, producing twice as much as the US, still imports beans. The US production in 1969 was about 800,000 MT (dry beans) from about 600,000 ha bringing about $0.17/kg. Nearly 150,000 MT fresh beans were produced from 36,000 hectares at $0.28/kg for immediate consumption. For the processing industry, 500,000 MT at $0.11/kg were produced from 95,000 hectares. The major bean-growing areas in the US are: Michigan (ca 40%), California, Col,orado, Idaho, New York, and Wyoming.

Energy

Rather in contrast with what we expect from cereals, CIAT (Bean Program/ 1977) suggested that in dry beans "large vegetative structures lead to increased yields if lodging resistance can be found." Hence the more bean, the more biomass residue. "Increased dry matter production (correlation with yield r = 0.96) and a relatively constant harvest index (r = 0.28) were associated with this yield trend. In 'Pornillo Sintetico' at CIAT the harvest index (ratio YIELD:TOTAL DM) ranged from 52–62% averaging 57%, with highest yields of 4.1 MT/ha associated with total DM yields of 7 MT/ha, indicating a maximum residue of ca 3 MT/ha. (CIAT/1977). Similar studies at Palmira (CIAT/1978) showed, in a bad year, bean yields of 750 to 1860 kg/ha with total DM yields (minus leaves and petioles) of 1160– 2770 kg/ha, obviously much lower. Of 11 cvs studied at Popoyan, P590 fixed most N, at the rate of 73.7 kg/ha, the lowest was P 243 at 12.2 kg/ha (CIAT/1977). Per plant N-fixation at Quilichao ranged from 8–20 g in a study of 31 cvs (CIAT/1979). Adams (1980) and Sandsted (1980) tabulate the energy inputs in dry bean and snap bean production, respectively. For dry beans in Michigan (nonirrigated) with a yield of 1,176 kg/ha, with a kcal value of 4,092,480, inputs were 3,131,842 kcals, 720,000 for machinery, 863,106 for gasoline, 643,500 for N, 168,000 for P, 89,600 for K, 952 for lime, 179,320 for seeds, 34,423 for insecticides, 391,647 for herbicides, 38,258 for transportation, and 3,036 for seed treatment chemicals. Irrigate dry bean yields of 2,147 kg/ha in California were equivalent to 7,331,868 kcals, barely more than inputs of 6,965,792 diesel being biggest at 2,627,617 kcals, N being second at 1,254,110, machinery at 720,000, irrigation at 692,500, gasoline at 627,567, herbicides at 336,697, seed at 328,400, insecticides at 172,082, transportation at 93,635, P at 62,400, and seed treatment at 50,784. These had positive energetic returns of 1.31 and 1.05 kcal output/kcal input respectively, compare to a negative ratio for snapbeans of 0.345. The largest input was for diesel at 1,392,508 kcal/ha, followed by machinery at 900,000, herbicides at 729,343, seeds at 672,000, N at 386,100, P at 246,000, fungicides at 110,347, K at 88,000, transportation at 61,089, electricity at 28,630, and lime at 9,465. With snapbean yields of 4,995 kg/ha, the protein yield was only 95 kg/ha, only 1/3 to 1/4 the protein yield of dry beans, and the kcal equivalent was only 1,595,319 kcals/ha, also about 1/4 to 1/3 that of dry beans (Sandsted, 1980).

Biotic Factors

Flowers are self-fertilized. Many diseases are caused by fungi, bacteria and viruses in beans throughout the world. In Latin America the principal fungal diseases are rust, anthracnose, angular leaf spot, web blight and various root rots. The chief bacterial diseases are bacterial blight and halo blight; chief viral diseases are bean common mosaic and bean golden mosaic. Following organisms are recorded from beans: Alternaria atrans, A. brassicae, A. phaseoli-vulgaris, A. tenuis, A. tenuissima, Aphanomyces euteiches, Aristastoma oeconomicum, Ascochyta boltshauseri, A. phaseolorum, A. pisi, A. sojaecola, Ashbya gossypii, Aspergillus ochraceus, Botrydiplodia theobromae, Botrytis cinerea, Brachysporium pisi, Cercospora canescens, C. columnaris, C. cruenta, C. phaseoli, C. phaseolina, C. phaseolorum, C. vanderysti, Chaetomium cochliodes, Choanephora cucurbitarum, Cladosporium fulvum, C. herbarum, C. phaseoli, Colletotrichum lindemuthianum, C. truncatum, Corticium microsclerotia, C. solani, Corynespora cassiicola, Cylindro-carpon radicicola, Dactuliophora tarrii, Diaporthe arctii, D. sojae, Dothiorella phaseoli, Elsinoe phaseoli, Epicoccum neglectum, E. purpurascens, Erysiphe polygoni, E. pisi, Fusarium acuminatum, F. culmorum, F. equiseti, F. martii, F. martii-phaseoli, F. oxysporum, F. poae, F. sambucinum, F. solani, Gloeosporium lindemuthianum, Glomerella lindemuthianum, Helicobasidium purpuream, Helminthosporium carbonum, Hyalodendron album, Isariopsis griseola, I. laxa, Leptosphaeria phaseolorum, Leveillula taurica, Macrophomina phaseoli, Macrosporium commune, M. phaseoli, Microsphaeria diffusa, Mycosphaerella cruenta, M. pinodes, M. sojae, Myrothecium roridum, Nematospora coryli, N. phaseoli, Oidium balsamii, O. erysiphoides, Ophiobolus graminis, Ovularia phaseoli, Parodiella perisporioides, Pellicularia filamentosa, Penicillium cyclopium, Periconia byssoides, Phaeoisariopsis griseola, Phakopsora vignae, Phoma subcircinata, Phyllachora phaseoli, Phyllosticta phaseolina, Phytomonas medicaginis var. phaseolicola, Phymatotrichum omnivorum, Phytophthora parasitica, Ph. cactorum, Ph. megosperma, Pleosphaerulina phaseolina, P. sojaecola, Pleospora herbarum, Pseudoplea trifolii, Pullularia pullulans, Pythium anandrun, P. acanthium, P. aphanidermatum, P. artotrogus, P. debaryanum, P. helicoides, P. intermedium, P. irregulare P. myriotylum, P. oligandrum, P. pulchrum, P. rostratum, P. salpingosporum, P. spinosum, P. splendens, P. ultimum, P. vexans, Ramlaria deusta, R. phaseolina, Rhizobium phaseoli, Rhizoctonia microsclerotia, Rh. solani, Rhizopus stolonifer, Sclerotinia fructicola, S. fuckelinan, S. homeocarpon, S. libertiana, S. minor, S. sclerotiorum, Sclerotium bataticola, S. rolfsii, Sphaerella phaseolicola, Stagonspora (stagonosporopsis) hortensis, Thielaviopsis basicola, Uromyces aloes, U. appendiculatus, U. fabae, U. phaseoli, U. phaseolorum, U. viciae-fabae, Vermicularia truncata, and Verticillium alboatrum. Bacteria causing diseases in beans include: Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Bacillus lathyri, Bacterium carotovora, B. fascians, B. medicaginis var. phaseolicola, B. phaseoli, B. rubefaciens, Corynebacterium fasciens, Erwinia carotovora, Pseudomonas cannabina, Ps. cyamopsicola, Ps. flectens, Ps. marginalis, Ps. medicaginis var. phaseolicola, Ps. syringae, Xanthomonas phaseoli var. fuscans, and X. vignicola. Common beans are parasitized by Striga hermonthica. Viruses isolated from common beans include: abutilon mosaic, alfalfa mosaic, alsike clover mosaic, Argentina sunflower, asparagus-bean mosaic, bean chlorotic ringspot (4 strains), bean local chlorosis (7 strains), bean mosaic, bean necrosis, beet ringspot, black legginess, Brazilian tobacco streak, broad-bean mottle, carnation mosaic, carnation ringspot, clover yellow mosaic, cucumber mosaic, cucumber necrosis, curly top, euphorbia mosaic, leaf crinkle, lucerne mosaic, oily-pod, pea enation mosaic, peach ringspot, peach yellow butt mosaic, pelargonium leaf-curl, pod mottle, potato bouquet, raspberry leaf-curl, raspberry ringspot, raspberry yellow dwarf, rosette, Rothamsted tobacco necrosis, southern bean mosaic, stipple streak, subterranean clover stunt, subterranean clover, summer death, sweet pea streak, tobacco mosaic, tobacco necrosis, tomato aspermy, tomato black ring, tomato spotted wilt, tomato streak, top necrosis, white clover mosaic, yellow mosaic, yellow bean mosaic, yellow-green mosaic, and yellow spot of nasturtium. Several nematodes infest common beans and may cause problems in certain areas: Aphelenchoides ritzemabosi, Belonolaimus gracilis, B. longicaudatus, Criconemella curvata, Ditylenchus dipsaci, Dolichodorus heterocephalus, Helicotylenchus dihystera, H. pseudorobustus, Hemicycliophora parvana, Heterodera glycines, H. schachtii, H. trifolii, Longidorus maximus, Meloidogyne arenaria, M. hapla, M. incognita and var. acrita, M. javanica, M. thamesi, Pratylenchus brachyurus, P. penetrans, P. scribneri, P. vulnus, Radopholus similes, Rotylenchulus reniformis, Trichodorus christiei, Tylenchorhynchus claytoni. In India, major insect pests include Epilachna vigintioctopunctata, one of the worst enemies, and the flea beetle, Longitarsus belgaumensis, an aphid, Smynthurodes betae, and the bean fly, Ophiomyia phaseoli. The most serious insect attacking bean in the eastern US is the Mexican bean beetle (Epilachna varivestis) (treated with carbaryl, dimethoate, diazinon, malathion, methoxyclor, and parathion). Other pests include: bean leaf beetle (Cerotoma trifurcata) (treated with carbaryl, DDT, or rotenone), seedcorn maggot (Delia platura) bean weevil (Acanthoscelides obtectus), bean thrips (Caliothrips fasciatus), and bean aphid (Aphis rumicis). Major Latin American pests are Empoasca (green leaf hopper) and Diabrotica. In Africa, the bean fly is very important. According to CIAT (1977), vegetable oils at dosages of only 5 ml/kg seed appear to control stored insect pests effectively, a safe, cheap method, easily adaptable to Third World households. CIAT (1978) showed equally good results with 3 ml soybean oil/kg seed and 1.7 ppm pyrethrins.

Chemical Analysis of Biomass Fuels

Analysing 62 kinds of biomass for heating value, Jenkins and Ebeling (1985) reported a spread of 17.46 to 16.32 MJ/kg compared to 13.76 for weathered rice straw to 23.28 MJ/kg for prune pits. On a % DM basis, the straw contained 75.30% volatiles, 5.93% ash, 18.77% fixed carbon, 42.97%C, 5.59% H, 44.93% O, 0.83% N, 0.01% S, 0.13% Cl, and undetermined residue.

References

Complete list of references for Duke, Handbook of Energy Crops
Last update Wednesday, January 7, 1998 by aw