3. Legumes (Pulses)
• Latin word “legere”
= to gather
• family Leguminosae
or ( Fabaceae)
• Fruits enclosed in pods
containing several seeds
4. • 2nd world’s largest family after grasses
• consists of about:
- 750 genera;
-19,000 species (herbs, shrubs, trees,
& climbers )
• grown for >6000 years
5. - dicots: seedling has 2
cotyledon leaves
–Most of the seed’s protein is stored
in the cotyledons
–Leaves have netted veins
6. • flowers have 5
petals, which are
bilaterally
symmetrical
• fruits in pods
containing
several seeds
8. Food Legumes
• important & diverse role in farming
systems
• diet of resource poor people
• achieve 3 developmental goals
–reducing poverty
–improving human health & nutrition &
–enhancing ecosystem resilience
9. Importance & Uses
• fix atmospheric N
• help alleviate degraded soil
• maintain soil fertility &
• reduce need for fertilizer thus
essential in agricultural systems
• towards sustainable cropping systems
• reduce pest and disease incidence
10. • With capability to fix nitrogen:
–Bacteria in root nodules convert nitrogen
gas into usable forms
–make legumes the most important
source of protein in the plant world
–make them good natural fertilizer
11. • Diverse uses include:
–timber
–medicine
–forages/feeds
–food
• Honored as “International Year of the
Pulses” FAO (2016)
12. Grain legumes, sources of:
• protein concentrates (feeds)
• oil crops for cooking
• biofuel
• industrial uses (soysauce, soya milk, etc)
• of historical & present day importance
• especially with climatic change &
population growth
26. . Common food legumes in the country
Common Name Scientific Name
Peanut Arachis hypogea
Mungbean Vigna radiata
Soybean Glycine max
Cowpea Vigna unguiculata
Bushbean/Stringbeans Phaseolus vulgaris
Winged bean Psophocarpus
tetragonolobus
Peas Pisum sativum
31. Table 1. Legume yield and
production area in temperate
countries
China – most diverse in terms of legumes
32. LEGU
ME
SPECI
ES
CHINA USA
Yield (t) x 1000 Area (ha) Yield (t) Area (ha)
Adzuki/Ric
e bean
242
Chickpea 10.5
Common bean 1046
Cowpea 13.5
Faba bean 1595
Lentil
Mungbean
Pea
Peanut
Soybean
33. Table 2. Legume yield and production area in temperate
countries
Legume Species Canada Europe
Yield
(t) (1 x
103)
Area
(ha) (1
x 103)
Yield
(t) (1 x
103)
Area
(ha) (1
x 103)
Adsuki/rice bean NA NA NA NA
Chickpea 123.00 66.00 174.64 143.66
Common bean 273.20 119.70 703.09 306.37
Cowpea NA NA 23.95 6.84
Fababean NA NA 673.34 226.09
Lentil 16.32 1,987.00 11.69 94.47
Mungbean NA NA NA NA
Pea 3,444.80 1,467.00 3,370.42 1,621.02
Peanut NA NA 11.33 10.81
Soybean 6,048.60 2,235.00 9,001.95 4,495.81
34. FAOSTAT, Akibode and Maredia
(2011)
Fig. . Global area harvested for all pulses and cereals
35. Fig. . Global yield trends for cereals and pulse
crops
FAOST
AT
36. Fig. . Trend in world total food legume area harvested per crop (Akibode and Maredia,
2011)