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Nepalese climbing rice bean

The Nepalese Climbing Rice Bean Vigna umbellata, also known as Red bean, rice bean, and Climbing Ricebean, is a tropical to temperate grain legume from Asia which is used primarily for food. Both its bean seeds and vegetative parts can also be used for fodder. Similar in size and colour, but not shape to the red kidney bean, the Climbing Rice Bean can be grown annually as erect, semi-erect or twining. It climbs from 30-100 cm to 200 cm in height. Its root system is quite extensive with a primary taproot which can bore into the soil at levels as deep as 100-150 cm. The stems of the plant are branched with fine hairs. The leaves are approximately 6-9 cm long and group in bunches of three. The flowers are bright yellow. The fruits are elongated pods approximately 7.5-12.5 cm long which contain 6-8 mm seeds.

Description of Where/How the Product is Grown, Raised, and Processed
Ricebean is grown in modest areas by subsistence farmers in the hilly regions of Nepal, parts of Southeast Asia, and Northern and Northeastern India. It is highly adaptive, and grows in a range of conditions. Ricebean [is] “well known among farmers for its wide adaptation and production even in marginal lands, drought-prone sloping areas, and flat rainfed tars”. Its growth ranges from between 700 and 1300 m above sea level for commercial productivity and from 200 to up to 2000 m above sea level in home gardens; perfect for growing in Nepal’s hilly areas—which range between 1000-4000 meters in altitude, with the majority of the population settling in areas with lower altitude. The majority of rice beans grown in Nepal are intended for use as food for human consumption; although some bean and plant vegetation are commonly used for fodder and green manure.

Growing Conditions of Product
Ricebean matures in under 60 days, and is highly drought tolerant. Generally, ricebean is intercropped with corn, grown on rice terrace risers, or grown alone as a sole crop. When acting as a mixed crop with corn it is usually broadcast between the sowing of corn, and its first and second earthing up; thus ricebean sowing can last from April or May to June. Ricebean is valuable as a green manure in depleted soils—especially on hillsides where runoff erodes the soil of nutrients— in mixed cropping with a variety of corn landraces, and for its ability to prevent soil erosion. Ricebean receives very few inputs, requires very little fertilizer—if any—and “is grown on residual fertility and moisture and in marginal and exhausted soils”. Thus, Ricebean is ideal for hillside farming as it provides nitrogen to the soil—eliminating much of the need for synthetic fertilizers, and also acting to improve the yields of corn—and it can be sold by itself once it is grown, providing poor hillside farmers with another source of income. Some anecdotal evidence indicates that the growing and cultivation of Ricebean in Nepal is declining in response to the introduction of high yielding corn landraces and the increase in the use of fertilizers; while local consumption is declining because of the increased availability of more favoured foods in local markets.

Other Agronomic Issues
Some of the major constraints of ricebean include its low seed yields, susceptibility to diseases and pests, and indeterminate flowering. Many Ricebean landraces are photoperiod-sensitive, and thus, “tend to be late flowering and produce vigorous vegetative growth when grown under conditions of ample water and warm or high temperature in the subtropics”. Thus, this would produce concerns for farmers growing in the sub-tropical regions of Nepal—including hillside farmers near the Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests. The twining habit of Ricebean vines makes them easy to grow as intercrops with corn, however, “this also makes them difficult to harvest mechanically. Present varieties are also shatter-susceptible, and hard-seededness is present: this trait does not appear to be consistent within [landraces]”. However, the largest problem with Ricebean is that very little modern plant breeding has been done, and the landraces that are grown have low yield potentials. The landraces that are grown are in direct competition with other summer legumes such as soybeans (Glycine max), black gram, cowpea, common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) and horse gram(Mactrotyloma uniflorum). Thus, there is hope for Ricebean however, as many of these traits could be eliminated by natural breeders if there was attention drawn to this crop.

Benefits to Nepal
1.	It would contribute to Nepal’s GDP: Any sales of Climbing Rice Bean exceeding production costs, will help to contribute to the increase in the nation’s fiscal productivity. Exporting ethnic produce in this form often has a trickle-up effect by opening new markets for other items of produce.

2.	Increases economic prosperity for rural communities: With an increasing trend in ethnic foods in Canada and many other countries world-wide, it is not difficult to see the prosperity this will bring to local economies. As this trend increases, local Nepalese villagers will benefit significantly for producing a product which has a market trending highly in North America and Europe.

3.	Increases quality of life for farmers: Individual farmers and their families will benefit considerably. Granted, trends in such products tend to wax and wane at different economic times; however, there has been relative stability and a trending increase over the last decade or so for such so-called ethnic delicacies.

4.	Political ties to Canada to open up possibilities with trade in other goods, products, or services: As the trending for such foods continues its positive trajectory, Canada and Nepal will build greater and stronger ties through the importing of more diverse foods and products. This in turn, will benefit both countries not only politically, but also in terms of benefiting the individual citizens and communities of each respective country.