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TARBAIS BEAN= Tarbais bean (beans from the city of Tarbes) is a local bean production (Phaseolus vulgaris) from southwestern France. It is a local product and its production area extends mainly in the Hautes-Pyrénées, but also in some municipalities of the Gers, Haute-Garonne and the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Dedicated by the Label Rouge (French quality label) since 1997 and the IGP (protected geographical indication, products whose reputation is linked to its area of production in the European Union) since 2000, its specificity is guaranteed by determined specifications.

History Native of the New World, the bean crossed the Pyrenees and settled in Tarbes’ plains at the beginning of the 18th century. After declining in the 1950s, Tarbais bean’s cultivation was revived in 1986. Once grown on corn stems, Tarbais beans are nowadays produced on plastic nets, although many private individuals continue to cultivate it with corn.

Varieties In the 1990s, 24 seed lines were selected by the INRA (National Institute for Agronomic Research) among all varieties grown on the department's farms. Only one, the 'Alaric' seed, is available to the public and enables to obtain the Label Rouge.

Production Area The IGP delimits a production area focused on a large part of the north of the Hautes-Pyrénées department, actually widened to its margins. This way, some administrative districts in the Gers, Pyrénées-Atlantiques and Haute-Garonne are directly or indirectly bordering.

Main production steps The ground is prepared during the spring so as to realize seedling during this period. About a month after this, as the plant develops, the tutoring on a net can gradually be set up. It is then useful to aerate the ground by butting and hoeing so as to remedy the coming and going of agricultural machines. Throughout the cultivation, based on the observations, the results of analysis, the producer realizes a number of interventions: fertilization, irrigation, pest control... Exclusively manual, the harvest is done in several passages, the fresh bean is picked in pods from late August to early September and the dry bean is picked on the plant from September 20 until mid-November. Then, depending on the needs, come the steps related to drying and ginning. In order to get a better quality, a gradual sorting occurs before packaging. To remove beans parasitized by insects such as the bean weevil (commonly known as weevil), seeds destined to seedling can be stored in the freezer at -35°C during 24 to 48 hours. In order not to cause a heat shock, they will then be left in the refrigerator for between 0 and 4°C and can be stored for between 10 and 20 °C until they are planted.