PLANTING
Soil: Vicia faba plants like deep, heavy, well drained and fertile/well manured soil,
with pH 6–7. They do not like acid soil, and saline or waterlogged soil also will not
produce a worthwhile crop. The plants benefit from wood ash and/or comfrey.
Fertiliser: A 4 MT/ha crop of broad beans will remove 45 kg P 205 (36 units) and
50 kg K 2 0 (40 units). The Nitrogen requirement is normally supplied by fixation.
Manganese deficiency is quite common (also with other pulse crops, due to their
high requirement).
Seed rate: very variable, from about 75 kg/ha in Sudan to 200 kg/ha in Egypt, or up
to 300 kg/ha in the UK. Small-seeded types such as tic beans use about 200 kg/ha.
Seed spacing: compromise is required ... broad beans needs a high plant population,
without too many gaps, to attain high yields as it does not compensate very well. But
if the crop is too thick it self-competes, grows tall and lodges, and is also more prone
to diseases. So if the post-winter plant population is too high, the plants should be
actively thinned out, either manually or by deep harrowing. They can, and do, send
out several “tillers” or “stems”. The optimum plant density is about 24–35 plants/m^2
(ie plant about 35–40 seeds/ m^2 ).
Approximately 75–100 cm between rows, 15–25 cm between plants, according
seeds, depending on variety and growing conditions.
Depth: 7.5–10 cm minimum, but deep enough to avoid birds pecking out the seed
itself. If birds only peck off a new stem, but the seed remains in the ground out of
reach, it will often produce another stem below the broken off area. In the UK winter
beans are often ploughed in, to a depth of 20 cm, and 15 cm for spring sown crops to
avoid this problem (with rooks especially).
Inoculation: recommended for certain situations, especially if grown for the first
time or if previous broad bean crop roots did not have active, pink nodules.
GROWTH CONDITIONS
Propagation: by seed. Most varieties are cross-pollinated. Bees are very fond of the
flowers.
Growth period: 90–220 days, depending on variety and climatic conditions.
Temperature: they are the hardiest of all the beans. In temperate regions, both
18–27C is optimum. Higher temperatures can cause the flowers to drop off and
failure of seed to set. In the humid tropics the plants often fail to produce any seed.
Intercropping: broad beans are tall plants which make an excellent nurse crop for
smaller crops such as lettuce, haricot beans or soybeans. They can be sown in rows
between the guard rows of broad beans.
Altitude: in Ethiopia they are mainly grown between 1800 and 3000 m, especially
in the so-called “cereal–pulse zone” between 2000 and 2500 m.
to thousand grain weight (TGW) which varies from about 400–1000grams/1000
°
autumn-sown, frost-tolerant “winter” varieties and spring-sown varieties are grown.
1.5 2 m wide early in the spring, with rows of more delicate plants sown later–
650 1000 mm. –
Rainfall: the least drought resistant of all the grain legumes, they need about