Bean varieties you may consider this planting season

Planting of cowpea, commonly called beans, a major export crop in some agro-ecological zones of Nigeria, has begun. The global production of cowpea is estimated at 7.1 million metric tonnes with 6.7 million tonnes coming from Africa on an estimated 12 million hectares. Nigeria produces about three million metric tonnes of cowpea on an estimated 3.6 million hectares, making it the world’s largest producer. However, despite being the world’s largest producer, yields of varieties range between 350 and 400kg per hectare “due to so many constraints”, said Prof. Mohammed Ishiyaku, a cowpea farmer and the Executive Director of the Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR), Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria. Prof. Ishiyaku is the principal farmer of the two new cowpea varieties which were released to farmers in 2019. On the basis of earliness, relatively high yield (2.5-2.9t/ha) potential even under intense maruca infestations due to its resistance to the insect, the variety SAMPEA 20T ...