Hi all, I have challenge related to the production cycle of Mucuna Puriens. We are experimenting with Mucuna - Maize and Cowpea - Maize intercropping in the south of Burkina Faso. The challenge we run into is that the Mucuna does not mature early enough to get to full potential seed production before the rainy season ends. This makes it harder to recover seeds for next season.
Does anyone recognize this issue? What would be possible solutions? Are there varieties with shorter growing cycles or other techniques to tackle this?
We canāt sow the Mucuna too early, otherwise it will smother the young maize plans.
We are eager to hear your thoughts/experiences.
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Hi Abram,
I was just mentioning the long production season required for mucuna to another network member @Kevin-Ray_Fall who is producing mucuna seed in his context. He may have recommendations for you. Long seasonality is a concern for mucuna seed production around the subtropics and tropics. Iāll add a few tips below, but local constraints may void some of these. @Emma_Weiss or @Tim_Motis feel free to add your thoughts to this list:
- Mucuna plants intended for seed production are best grown in areas where other crops (like maize) are not growing actively to keep from smothering the staple crop. One alternative I have heard some farmers do is to cut some of the aboveground biomass of the mucuna to keep it off the staple crop (e.g. maize), but this is a labor increase you have to consider and needs to be timed properly to allow for healthy plants to produce healthy seeds. @Roland_Bunch or @Nathan_Deboer may have recommendations for the timing of doing this biomass reduction with mucuna.
- Some mucuna varieties flower with shorter day lengths (<12 hours) while others are neutral (12-14 hours). If youāre not sure about your variety, ask your original seed supplier.
- Mucuna plants intended for seed can take up to 270 days to reach maturity (dependent on local conditions like temperature and rainfall), so plan your crop calendar to account for the space required for seed production. Growing degree days are one way local conditions can be used to estimate crop maturity
Stacy
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Good afternoon, I would like to know when your rainy season is? What months? How much rain?
Can you send photos of the bean seeds you have?
We would plan on planting velvet bean after the corn is waist heigth . In June in the locations where I have lived.
But I would not look for flowers or bean pods til December. Kevin
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Hi Abram,
Here at ECHOās Global Seed Bank we have a day-neutral variety called ā90-dayā that flowers in 90 days regardless of time of year (as long as it gets enough water). The pods should be ready to harvest beginning ~60 days after flowering. If you canāt find a variety near you that works, feel free to reach out to us about seed.
Emma
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Hi Abram my answer would concur with Stacy - grow your seed-producing plants elsewhere. In Nepal farmers used field edges and random trees as trellises amongst the farmland e.g. agro-forestry systems with trees grown for timber, firewood or biomas. Ideally you wouldnāt want your cover crop/green manure Mucuna to seed anyway i.e. you would be terminating it (cut and allow to mulch, or cut and incorporate with tillage) before flowering, as this will give greatest nutrition in the biomas. Then, depending on your main crop cycle, you are free to plant for seed production independently, earlier or later. We will even sow seed specifically for seed production in leaf pots and hot bed nurseries if the cold season is late or rainy season is short, so that the Mucuna has a head start (up to 3-4 weeks growth in a nursery) before planting out at the base of a tree trellise, when the rains come (paddy season). One climbing plant can then produce copious amounts of seed.
Dear Stacy,
Good to hear we are not alone in this struggle. Thanks for the different options to try to adapt. I have to acknowledge we where a bit late last year, so maybe starting in time already solves a lot. Good to make the separation between seed production and the āregularā cover crop. We tried to combine it, but probably it is better to separate that indeed.
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Hi Kevin,
We are working mostly in the south of Burkina. The normal rainy season goes from May/June till October with total amounts around 900 mm. If the harvest is a bit later it would be no problem as long as there is sufficient time/moisture to fully ripen.
Thanks, Abram
Hi Chris,
Thanks for your reflections. It indicates again we should separate the seed production from biomass production. We will take that into account the coming season.
Abram
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Dear Stacy and Abram,
Iām afraid I have never produced mucuna primarily to maximize seed production. It virtually always produces plenty of seed for farmers to replant it the next year. It could be that people at ECHO could give you some good advice, as I think they do produce mucuna just for its seed.
Good Luck,
Roland
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Good evening ECHOcommunity, it would not seem like moisture should be the issue. Maybe timing.
I would want to mulch the beans during the rainy season. To keep moisture in the soil for the beans to finish production.
Are other types of beans grown in the same field in the past season. Inoculations may be needed.
What color are your seed?
Farming for His glory, Kevin
Hi Stacy. From this I assume you have good knowledge about Mucuna. As a researcher and cocoa farmer, I planning to integrate Mucuna into my cocoa farm this year. This is for weed control and soil fertility. Actually, from desk top research this is expected to stay for three years. What do you think about this.
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Hi Marie, great question. While mucuna can be long-lived for an annual, I havenāt seen any evidence of a single planting persisting for that long - it typically dies off about 2 months after producing seed. The amount of time it takes to produce can be pretty variable, anywhere from about 180 days to over 270 days depending on variety and day-length sensitivity. However, mucuna can re-seed itself quite readily which could cause it to persist for 3 years or longer. For intercropping, Iād recommend a less aggressive or even a bushing variety unless the cacao plants are quite large as mucuna has a tendency to smother. But it can produce a lot of biomass and smother weeds effectively. You can read more details about mucuna here.
Emma
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Thank you Emma,
I am actually working with other research institutions in my country Cameroon and have gotten some seeds from them. Once again thanks for this. Its very impactful