#vignasubterranea

[seedkeeping]

Now available! Barbaras are grown by hundreds of thousands of subsistence farmers in semi-arid Africa (where they were first domesticated) as well as in Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia. They are the third most important legume on the continent, after their cousin the cowpea (black eyed pea) and the peanut, with whom their history is entwined. Peanuts, originally from Paraguay and Brazil, traveled to Africa via Spain during the transatlantic slave trade and were readily adopted because they are grown and prepared in the same way. Both plants grow their edible seeds underground from pegs that dive down from fertilized yellow flowers. You can boil or roast the fresh seeds (like peanuts) or dry them to make flour, dumplings, cakes, or porridge. According to the BamNetwork (where much of this info came from), many people prefer Bambara milk to soy or cowpea. Bambara is very nutritious, very drought tolerant, and it gives back by fixing atmospheric nitrogen in the soil. This is a mix from 5 or 6 different sources, including a large amount of Speckled Bambara seeds, which came from a market in Francistown, Botswana in 2001 via Roughwood Seed Collection in Devon, PA. Our hope is that by including a large amount of diversity, this population will begin to adapt to our unique climate, soils, and ecosystem. Also known as bambara beans, jugo beans, ditloo marapo, indlubu, hlanga, njugo, nduhu, phonda, and tindhluwa. Due to limited quantities, we allow only one packet per customer. #seedkeeping #bambaragroundnut #vignasubterranea https://www.instagram.com/p/CZ-uldBLxmW/?utm_medium=tumblr

[irispublishersagriculture]

Iris Publishers - World Journal of Agriculture and Soil Science (WJASS)

Suitability Evaluation of Urban Soils underline by Asu River Parent Material forCassava Manihotesculenta and Bambara groundnut (Vignasubterranea (L.) Verdc) Production in Ebonyi, Southeastern Nigeria

Authored by Chris-Emenyonu

Nigeria is the most populous black nation in the World and in sub Saharan Africa [1]. Nigeria’s population 202,363,773 million [2], which is 61% of the World’s Population. 51.2 % of this population lives in urban area. Increase in population, especially in urban area means more persons to be fed and yet less available food in these areas due to insufficient food production as a result of unplanned land uses resulting to land degradation of urban landscape, Inadequate information on soil suitability prior to land use and lastly, Inadequate Information on urban and peri-urban soils for crop cultivation. Land suitability evaluation is used to ascertain the compatibility of the land for a specific type of use [3].

Cassava deserves special recognition as a crop which has placed food on the table of various homes in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. Nigeria is among the major cassava growing countries of the World and cassava is relatively adaptable to marginal soils and erratic rainfall. According to Anikwe, et al. [4], famine rarely occurs in regions where cassava is widely grown since it is known to provide a stable base to the food production system. According to Ahukaemere, et al. [5] cassava is primarily grown for its starch containing the tuberous root. These roots are the major source of dietary energy for more than 500 million people in African [6,7]. Cassava is a major crop in South Eastern Nigeria and can help in the quest for food security for the teeming population.

Bambara groundnut is the third most important legume after groundnut (Arachishypogaea) and cowpea (Vignaunguiculata) in Africa. Azam- Ali, et al, [8] reported that Bambara groundnut seed makes a balance food due to the fact that it contains sufficient quantities of carbohydrate (63%), protein (16.25%) and fats (6.3%) with relatively high proportions of lysine and methionine as percentage of the protein (6.6 and 1.3% respectively) and it can be consumed in different forms either in the immature green state or matured form. In South Eastern Nigeria, it is well consumed especially in Enugu State; it serves as one of their local delicacies. If the yield of these crops is to be increased, there is a need to match cassava and bambara groundnut cultivation with the suitability of soil for its production.

With the recent increase in urban and peri-urban population, suitability evaluations of soils for cassava and Bambara groundnut production in these areas are important as it is essential in enhancing their production in these areas.

Materials and Methods

Description of study area

The study was carried out in Amatam, Isiagwu in Ebonyi State rainforest agro-ecological zone of Nigeria. Ebonyi state lies approximately within longitudes 7° 30’ and 8° 30’ East of the Greenwich Meridian and latitudes 5° 40’ and 6° 45’ North of the Equator [9] while the study area lies between 5057.290N and 7033.445E with an elevation ranging from 73 to 81m. The climate is humid tropical. The rainfall pattern is bimodal with peak in July and September but this has been altered by climate change. The minimum rainfall is 1700 mm while the maximum is 2000 mm with a mean of 1800mm [10]. The temperatures are 27 °C and 31 °C for minimum and maximum, respectively. The relative humidity is 60% during the dry period and 80% in the rainy season [11]. Isiagwu area has savannah vegetation characterized by abundant tall grasses and other herbaceous plant species. Shrubs are also found but not in a regular pattern amidst the grassy or herbaceous vegetation are trees that are scare. Relief of the study area is lowlying and undulating [9]. The geology of the area is made up of sequences of sandy shales, with fine grained micaceous sandstones and mudstones which are Albian in age and belongs to the Asu River Group [12]. Low input agriculture is generally practiced and land preparation is by slashing and burning.

Field study and soil analyses

Three urban soils were randomly selected for the study. One pedon was dug in each urban soil and a total of three pedons were evaluated. A total of 15 soil samples were collected from the three pedons based on horizon differentiation and analyzed in the laboratory for various soil properties following the procedures outlined by Soil Survey Staff [13].

Land suitability evaluation was done in line with the FAO Framework for land evaluation [6] for the arable crops. The land requirements for Cassava (Manihotesculenta) and Bambara groundnut (Vignasubterranea (L.) Verdcwere matched with the land characteristics of the study area.

Geo-graphical Co-Ordinates of Urban Soil (Amatam, Isiagwu, Ebonyi, State)

• Pedon 1

5057.33N-7033.445E, Altitude: 73m

• Pedon 2

5057.290N-7033.401E, Altitude: 81m

• Pedon 3

5057.454N-7033.167E, Altitude: 73m

Results and Discussion

Soil characteristics

Table 1 shows the characteristics of the study sites, and Table 2a & 2b show the land requirements for cassava and bambara groundnut production while Table 3 and Table 4 show the suitability evaluation. The soil texture ranged from sandy loam to loam in pedon 1, sandy loam in pedon 2 and sandy loam to sandy clam loam in pedon 3 ( Table 2). Mean sand content ranged from 481.85g kg in pedon 3 to 669.6 g kg-1 in pedon 2. Clay content was increased with depth. Silt content ranged from 192.8 g kg-1 to 330.27 g kg-1. Bulk density ranged from 1.40 to 1.44 gcm-3. Soil reaction was very strongly acidic (4.37) to moderately acidic (5.79). pH values obtained from soils of Asu River group is similar to those of Nwite, et al. [12] and were higher than critical limit of pH range (pH 3.7 – 4.9) which is limiting to plant performance and may cause aluminum toxicity [14]. Organic matter ranged from 5.08-7.94 g kg-1 and this is below the critical limit of 10 g kg-1 as reported by Esu [15]. Low organic matter of the area is typical of urban soils because of the removal of the rich top soils as a result of urban activities. Soils were low in available phosphorus with values ranging from 7.60-10.34 mgkg-1 and total nitrogen ranged from 0.30 to 0.85 g kg-1. Cation exchange capacity ranged from 7.37 to 12.90 cmol kg-1 while percentage base saturation ranged from 86.94% to 95.67%.

Land suitability evaluation of studied soils

Land characteristics considered for the cultivation of cassava and Bambara groundnut were rainfall, temperature, topography (slope) and drainage. While the soil characteristics considered for cassava production wereorganic carbon, pH, cation exchange capacity, Total Nitrogen and Base saturation (Table 2a & 2b). All urban sites studied were marginally suitable (S3) for the production of cassava as a result of organic carbon (Table 3) and these values were lower than the critical limit of 20-40g kg and for the production of Bambara groundnut, all site studied were currently not suitable for its production due to rainfall (Climatic) and Total Nitrogen (Fertility) and pH in site 3 (Table 4) [16].

Conclusion

Generally, from the results, organic carbon was the most sever fertility characteristics limiting the production of cassava in the studied urban soils as values were low, while rainfall and total Nitrogen were the major constraints limiting the production of Bambara groundnuts in studied urban soils.

However, for cassava production, management practices that enhance soil fertility such as addition of organic materials should be encouraged, while for the production of Bambara groundnut should be practiced under irrigation agriculture and nitrogenous fertilizers should be applied

 To read more about this article: https://irispublishers.com/wjass/fulltext/suitability-evaluation-of-urban-soils.ID.000599.php

Indexing List of Iris Publishers: https://medium.com/@irispublishers/what-is-the-indexing-list-of-iris-publishers-4ace353e4eee

Iris publishers google scholar citations: https://scholar.google.co.in/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=irispublishers&btnG=

[seedkeeping]

Bambara Groundnuts are grown by hundreds of thousands of subsistence farmers in semi-arid Africa (where they were first domesticated) as well as in Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia. They are the third most important legume on the continent, after their cousin the cowpea (black eyed pea) and the peanut, with whom their history is entwined. Peanuts, originally from Paraguay and Brazil, traveled to Africa via Spain during the transatlantic slave trade, and were readily adopted because they grow and are prepared in the same way. Both peanuts and bambaras grow their edible seeds underground from pegs that dig down from fertilized yellow flowers. You can boil or roast the fresh bambara seeds (like peanuts) or dry them to make four, dumplings, cakes, or porridge. According to the BamNetwork (where much of this info came from), many people prefer Bambara milk to soy or cowpea. Bambara is very nutritious, very drought tolerant, and it gives back by fixing atmospheric nitrogen in the soil. This is a mix we created last year from 5 or 6 different sources, including a large amount of Speckled Bambara seeds, which came from a market in Francistown, Botswana in 2001 via Roughwood Seed Collection in Devon, PA @roughwoodseeds. Our hope is that by including a large amount of diversity, this population will begin to adapt to our unique climate, soils, and ecosystem. This year we are planting mostly the seeds harvested from last year’s mix (selecting for size, diversity, and beauty) - and we are also adding more variety from several other sources, including a couple types from the USDA and a beautiful mix given to me a few years ago by Nate Kleinman of @experimentalfarmnetwork. Also known as bambara beans, jugo beans, ditloo marapo, indlubu, hlanga, njugo, nduhu, phonda, and tindhluwa. #bambaragroundnut #vignasubterranea #seedkeeping #jugobeans
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_TLZZ0A0Ti/?igshid=rnw6wa9ed1rq

[seedkeeping]

New Seed Alert! Bambaras Groundnuts are back!!! This time as a diverse mix! Barbaras are grown by hundreds of thousands of subsistence farmers in semi-arid Africa (where they were first domesticated) as well as in Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia. They are the third most important legume on the continent, after their cousin the cowpea (black eyed pea) and the peanut, with whom their history is entwined. Peanuts, originally from Paraguay and Brazil, traveled to Africa via Spain during the transatlantic slave trade, and were readily adopted because the grow and are prepared in the same way. Both plants grow their edible seeds underground from pegs that dive down from fertilized yellow flowers. You can boil or roast the fresh seeds (like peanuts) or dry them to make four, dumplings, cakes, or porridge. According to the BamNetwork (where much of this info came from), many people prefer Bambara milk to soy or cowpea. Bambara is very nutritious, very drought tolerant, and it gives back by fixing atmospheric nitrogen in the soil. This is a mix from 5 or 6 different sources, including a large amount of Speckled Bambara seeds, which came from a market in Francistown, Botswana in 2001 via Roughwood Seed Collection in Devon, PA. Our hope is that by including a large amount of diversity, this population will begin to adapt to our unique climate, soils, and ecosystem. Also known as bambara beans, jugo beans, ditloo marapo, indlubu, hlanga, njugo, nduhu, phonda, and tindhluwa. Very limited supply available at www.trueloveseeds.com #bambaragroundnut #vignasubterranea #seedkeeping #jugobeans https://www.instagram.com/p/B6Bvr-4gDDm/?igshid=1bl0zptpix89s

[seedkeeping]

Farm noticings today: Bambara Groundnuts breaking through - we combined many varieties this year in hopes of creating a more locally-adapted, many-colored landrace; Peanuts spreading their leaves to embrace the sunshine; baby mantises, hopefully eating the aphid infestation in the area where I relocated nearly a dozen egg sacs (oothecae); honey bee resting on a row label in the sun; Syrian Cukes; Lunga di Napoli Squash; Balsam Apple (a type of bitter melon) having thrown off its seed coat; Sehsapsing Blue Flint Corn - a Lenape variety; and finally the remaining dahlia tubers from our taste test stash. I am so excited to say I’ve finally found modern and “pre-Hispanic” recipes for dahlias, which are called Cocoxochitl by Aztecs, who traditionally eat the tubers and flowers. The recipes were compiled, published, and generously shared with me by Asociación Mexicana de la Dalia o Acocoxochitl in their cookbook called “Recetario Flores de Dalia.” I’ll post about that more when I make the recipes! #cocoxochitl #acocoxóchitl #acocotli #dahlia #recetariofloresdedalia #bambara #bambaragroundnut #vignasubterranea #trueloveseeds #seedkeeping https://www.instagram.com/seedkeeping/p/Bw3IIy3lLyk/?igshid=12tzlvafd8lmo

[seedkeeping]

Bambara Groundnuts. Bambara Beans. Okpa. Jugo Beans. Goober Beans. Cousins to the black-eyed peas, these nutritious, drought-tolerant legumes are ok with high temperatures and poor soils. Native to West Africa, it far predates the Brazilian peanut (also called groundnut) on the continent. It is high in protein and carbohydrates and contains many important minerals making it a complete diet. It can be eaten as a fresh or dry bean, and made into flour or nut milk. It is fairly difficult to find seeds for this crop in the US. Roughwood Seed Collection shared seed for this variety (“Speckled Bambaras”) a few years ago. We have a few packets left for this year, and will be listing more for 2019 shortly! www.trueloveseeds.com #speckledbambara #bambaragroundnut #bambarabeans #jugobeans #okpa #gooberbean #vigna #vignasubterranea #seedkeeping https://www.instagram.com/p/Brg1Hk8lZuG/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=12c0xpvnb8zmc

[seedkeeping]

I pulled up my Bambara Groundnut patch today. I imagine I'll find a few more 'nuts' stored under the sweet potato patch in vole and mouse nests. Barbaras are grown by hundreds of thousands of subsistence farmers in semi-arid Africa (where they were first domesticated) as well as in Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia. They are the third most important legume on the continent, after their cousin the cowpea (black eyed pea) and the peanut, with whom their history is entwined. Peanuts, originally from Paraguay and Brazil, traveled to Africa via Spain during the transatlantic slave trade, and were readily adopted because the grow and are prepared in the same way. Both plants grow their edible seeds underground from pegs that dive down from fertilized yellow flowers. You can boil or roast the fresh seeds (like peanuts) or dry them to make four, dumplings, cakes, or porridge. According to the BamNetwork (where much of this info came from), many people prefer Bambara milk to soy or cowpea. Bambara is very nutritious, very drought tolerant, and it gives back by fixing atmospheric nitrogen in the soil. My Speckled Bambara seeds came from @roughwoodseeds, and theirs came from a market in Francistown, Botswana in 2001. #vignasubterranea #vigna #legume #fabaceae #seedkeeping #bambara #bambaragroundnut #bamnetwork #kacangbogor #speckledbambara #bambaranut #bambaranuts #jugobeans #okpa #nyimobeans #izindlubu #gurjiya (at Delaware County, Pennsylvania)

[seedkeeping]

Bambara Groundnuts (Vigna subterranea): the West African doppelgänger of the Peanut (Arachis hypogaea). It actually looks more like a Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) in the seeds, flower, and leaf, but it grows like a peanut - bushy, short, and with its seeds growing underground on pegs that extend beneath the soil from fertilized flowers. For this reason, when peanuts arrived on ships from Brazil to Spain to West Africa during the transatlantic slave trade, they were readily adopted into African foodways, and later followed enslaved Africans to North America. #vignasubterranea #vigna #arachishypogaea #seedkeeping (at Newtown Square, Pennsylvania)

[seedkeeping]

Taste testing beans! My friend @jonahgoldenbones grew a bunch of rare beans for me this year at his farm in Vermont. He brought them for New Years and we are going to try to cook them up to see how they taste. Any tips on how to do that with these small quantities? We are soaking them now. #beans #phaseolusvulgaris #phaseoluslunatus #vignasubterranea #tastetest #rarebeans #seedsaving (at South West Philadelphia)

[seedkeeping]

We started our Black Peanuts and Speckled Bambaras today! We soaked and inoculated them - see last couple photos for the transformation. Holding/loving/planting the seeds: Amirah, a Truelove Seeds apprentice focused on crops of the African diaspora. Peanuts are from Paraguay/Brazil and bambaras are from West Africa. While they are both legumes, they are not closely related. Bambaras are close cousins to the black eyed pea, though like peanuts, their fertilized yellow flowers send “pegs” directly down into the soil and form “nuts” in pods/shells. When peanuts arrived in Africa, presumably via the Spanish, they were a familiar new plant. The peanut in Africa usurped the bambara’s names: groundnut, pindar, goober. Peanuts and bambaras kept these various names in North America as well. It is debated whether enslaved Africans or Europeans first introduced the peanut to the American South in the early 1700s, but it was certainly the Africans in America that most used this groundnut in their cooking. Later George Washington Carver, whose campaigns to help the poor Southern farmers out from under King Cotton, widely popularized it (and MANY other crops and ecological techniques) even further. Bambara is very nutritious, very drought-tolerant, does fine in poor soils, AND gives back via nitrogen fixation. You can boil or roast the fresh seeds, or dry them to make a flour for dumplings, cakes, or porridge. #bambaragroundnut #vignasubterranea #blackpeanut #arachishypogaea #seedkeeping #goobers #pindar #mpinda #groundnut #bambaragroundnut #legumes #innoculation

[seedkeeping]

Hannah enamored by the Speckled Bambara Groundnuts (Vigna subterranea), a West African cousin to the Cowpea that grows its pods underground like a Peanut. These babies are en route to @bakercreekseeds as we speak/write/worry about the election. #bambaragroundnut #speckledbambara #vignasubterranea #vigna @hannah.slip #roughwoodseedcollection (at Devon, Pennsylvania)

[seedkeeping]

Speckled Bambara Groundnuts (Vigna subterranea). These are the pregnant pods that fell off the plants as I harvested them. Learn more about this subterranean West African pulse: #speckledbambara #bambaragroundnut #vignasubterranea (at Devon, Pennsylvania)

[seedkeeping]

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A post shared by Owen Taylor (@seedkeeping)

Thrilled about this year's Speckled Bambara Groundnut (Vigna subterranea) harvest! Thanks to the fertile soil, loving care, and mostly rodent-free garden at Garret Williamson Foundation, we will hopefully have plenty to share this year! This West African legume sends pegs underground from its fertilized yellow flowers and grows its bean pods beneath the soil, just like a peanut. Because of the similarities, when Peanuts arrived in West Africa from Brazil (via Spain) during the transatlantic slave trade, they were easily and quickly adopted. Bambara is very nutritious, very drought-tolerant, does fine in poor soils AND gives back via nitrogen fixation. You can boil or roast the fresh seeds, or dry them to make a flour for dumplings, cakes, or porridge.#bambara #bambaragroundnut #vignasubterranea #speckledbambara #roughwoodseedcollection #seedkeeping #legumes (at 4H Farm at Garrett Williamson Foundation)

[seedkeeping]

Crossing fingers that the voles let us keep our Bambara Groundnut harvest this year. Here are the Speckled Bambara seedlings looking great. This West African legume grows its seed pods underground like peanuts, and is most closely related to Cowpeas (aka Black-eyed Peas). See: #bambaragroundnut #vignasubterranea #speckledbambara #bambaras #roughwoodseedcollection #damnvoles

[seedkeeping]

Bambara Groundnuts at home. #bambaragroundnut #bambara #vigna #vignasubterranea #seedsaving #seedkeeping

[seedkeeping]

Speckled Bambara Groundnut. Close cousin to the black eyed-pea, as you can see, but grows more like distant second cousin the peanut. Domesticated in West Africa (as were the cowpeas), it's pollinated tiny yellow flowers send pegs underground on which the groundnut grows. This is why peanuts were an instant shoe-in when they arrived via the transatlantic slave trade from South America to Europe to West Africa (and then later from there to the Carolinas and North America) - they were familiar and productive. Bambaras are also called Pindars and Goober Peas, names later given to peanuts as well. Anyways, we harvested them a tad early because the voles left us with only a few dozen seed pods. One of these years we'll find a vole-free safe spot to increase our supply. #bambara #bambaragroundnut #speckledbambara #seedkeeping #seedsaving #pindar #mpinda #gooberpeas #legume #leguminosae #vigna #vignasubterranea