Articles
Production of faba bean (Vicia faba L.) inside a Mediterranean naturally ventilated solar greenhouse
Article number
1426_7
Pages
43 – 50
Language
English
Abstract
Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is an old crop that is widely used around the world for both human and animal food.
In Spain its commercialization is carried out in the form of fresh pods, for the consumption of grains, such as dried and fried or roasted grains and more broadly as fresh frozen grains.
There is a fourth form of consumption, which are the tender beans to eat cooked with pod, mainly fried, so-called “jaruguillas”. However, this form of consumption is little known today and its use is limited to farmers in southern areas and the Mediterranean coast, without commercialization.
Given the current lack of fiber and vegetable proteins in the diet of Europeans, and the need to diversify crops in the greenhouses of Almeria, the idea arose to analyze the possibility of growing faba beans for the production of tender fresh pods.
With this objective, the cultivar ‘Reina Mora’ was sown on October 4 in 2022 in sand mulched soil “enarenado” inside a solar greenhouse in Almeria, without cover in one of its three spans.
During the development of the crop, no phytosanitary treatment was carried out nor were beneficial insects of integrated control directly applied.
Three planting densities were analyzed, D1=1.6 plants m‑2, D2=2.1 plants m‑2 and D3=3.9 plants m‑2. The highest production was obtained at the end of the crop in the highest density, with a tender fresh pods production of 1.75 kg m‑2 (D3), followed by the intermediate density with 1.38 kg m‑2 (D2), and 1.09 kg m‑2 for the lowest density (D1). After 182 days from sowing, the plants reached heights of 164.3 cm (D1), 177.0 cm (D2) and 185.3 cm (D3). No statistically significant differences were observed in pod length (13.0±3.7 cm), pod weight (7.9±2.4 g), pod width (11.2±1.6 mm) and number of grains (5.4±1.0).
In Spain its commercialization is carried out in the form of fresh pods, for the consumption of grains, such as dried and fried or roasted grains and more broadly as fresh frozen grains.
There is a fourth form of consumption, which are the tender beans to eat cooked with pod, mainly fried, so-called “jaruguillas”. However, this form of consumption is little known today and its use is limited to farmers in southern areas and the Mediterranean coast, without commercialization.
Given the current lack of fiber and vegetable proteins in the diet of Europeans, and the need to diversify crops in the greenhouses of Almeria, the idea arose to analyze the possibility of growing faba beans for the production of tender fresh pods.
With this objective, the cultivar ‘Reina Mora’ was sown on October 4 in 2022 in sand mulched soil “enarenado” inside a solar greenhouse in Almeria, without cover in one of its three spans.
During the development of the crop, no phytosanitary treatment was carried out nor were beneficial insects of integrated control directly applied.
Three planting densities were analyzed, D1=1.6 plants m‑2, D2=2.1 plants m‑2 and D3=3.9 plants m‑2. The highest production was obtained at the end of the crop in the highest density, with a tender fresh pods production of 1.75 kg m‑2 (D3), followed by the intermediate density with 1.38 kg m‑2 (D2), and 1.09 kg m‑2 for the lowest density (D1). After 182 days from sowing, the plants reached heights of 164.3 cm (D1), 177.0 cm (D2) and 185.3 cm (D3). No statistically significant differences were observed in pod length (13.0±3.7 cm), pod weight (7.9±2.4 g), pod width (11.2±1.6 mm) and number of grains (5.4±1.0).
Publication
Authors
F.D. Molina-Aiz, F.J. Palmero-Luque, M.H. Honoré, D.L. Valera
Keywords
faba tender pods, solar greenhouse, natural ventilation, sand mulched soil, integrated pest management
Groups involved
- Division Precision Horticulture and Engineering
- Division Greenhouse and Indoor Production Horticulture
- Working Group Nettings in Horticulture (subgroup of Protected Cultivation in Mild Winter Climates)
- Working Group Light in Horticulture
- Working Group Organic Greenhouse Horticulture
- Working Group Vegetable Grafting
- Working Group Modelling Plant Growth, Environmental Control, Greenhouse Environment
- Working Group Protected Cultivation, Nettings and Screens for Mild Climates
- Working Group Computational Fluid Dynamics in Agriculture
- Working Group Design and Automation in Integrated Indoor Production Systems
- Working Group Mechanization, Digitization, Sensing and Robotics
- Working Group Greenhouse Environment and Climate Control
- Division Landscape and Urban Horticulture
- Commission Agroecology and Organic Farming Systems
- Division Vegetables, Roots and Tubers
- Working Group Vertical Farming
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