The underrated mungbean could improve food and nutrition security
A recent article in the Guardian newspaper extols the virtues of mungbean, a crop on which WorldVeg has been working on for decades. Written by an Australian journalist who visited WorldVeg headquarters in November and published in the Australia new section – its leading title belies the Australian sense of humor – ‘Fibre-rich, with fewer farts…”
Not only do mungbeans contain the myriad nutritional benefits of legumes in general, as a rich source of protein, fiber, antioxidant polyphenols and essential vitamins and minerals, they also have a few special qualities. Mung beans are easy to digest, rich in micronutrients, and have been used for thousands of years in traditional Chinese medicine to treat fever and heatstroke as well as other conditions including hypertension, gastrointestinal problems and inflammation.
The article introduces the International Mungbean Improvement Network (IMIN), led by WorldVeg with partners including the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), and explains how “careful screening has revealed varieties with greater resistance to pathogens like powdery mildew, anthracnose and fusarium wilt, and pests such as cowpea aphid, thrips and stem fly. A wild beach variety could help breed lines that can tolerate salinity and improved lines have shortened the bean’s growing time.”
“We have got varieties that mature in 50 days,” the regional director of IMIN in South and Central Asia, Dr Ramakrishnan Nair, says. This makes mungbeans – one of the only summer rotation options among legumes – ideal to plant between other crops such as rice or wheat, enriching the soil with nitrogen and supplementing smallholder farmers’ incomes.
See the full story by Natalie Parletta in The Guadian, Australia news, 2 February 2024
WORLDVEG IN THE NEWS
[Video] Da Ai Journal: Doomsday Ark (English/Mandarin)
Da Ai Televetion｜Taiwan, January 2024
[Video] OUR ISLAND: Seed exchange and conservation (English/Mandarin)
PTS, February 2023
[Video] Seed conservation and Breeding-2 (English/Mandarin)
Formosa TV, February 2023
[Video] Seed conservation and Breeding-1 (English/Mandarin)
Formosa TV, February 2023
New partnership agreement signed to improve global nutrition and food security ACIAR, February 2023
AFACI Newsletter Issue No. 22.
AFACI Newsletter, January – December 2022
[Video] PROJET NUTRIFOOD: Dr. Marco WOPEREIS visite le jardin scolaire de Goulo-Sodji à Zè (French)
AgricoTV, April 2022
Low-Cost Solar Dryers Yield Sustainable Incomes to Marginal Farmers of Koraput District in Odisha.
ICRISAT Happenings Newsletter, April 2022
Audience au Ministère de l’Agriculture, de l’Elevage et de la Pêche du Benin: World Vegetable Center porte le projet d’un symposium (French).
Benin ODD TV, April 2022
Team of scientists from Taiwan visits Nagaon
The Sentinel, April 2022
Interview with Edmond Totin, WorldVeg Project Manager for SAFEVEG on Climate Change in Africa (French)
UN News, April 2022
Why Seedbank Aren’t Just for Doomsday
BBC Future, April 2022
The scientists helping farmers kick the chemical habit
AFP, March 2022 – Published in France24, RFI, MSN, Global Times and others
Sharing Knowledge for Self-Sufficiency – International Aid in Fruit and Vegetable Production
Taiwan Panorama, February 2022
Pressing for policies that promote “forgotten foods”
Grow Further, 9 December 2021
Cherry tomatoes
KU Research Weekly, 2 December 2021
The fight of mushrooms in farmland. Biotechnology at the service of humanity
Spark Chronicles, 29 November 2021
Asia and Pacific Seed Association (APSA) recognizes 2021’s five ‘most influential’ seed scientists in Asia-Pacific
Seed Quest, 19 November 2021
Un plan mundial para conservar la diversidad de frutas y hortalizas
A en verde, 10 November 2021
European donor delegation discusses partnerships for greater impact delivery in Malian agriculture
ICRISAT Happenings, 15 October 2021
