Mung bean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek)

Abstract

Mung bean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek) is also known as green gram, golden gram, Oregon pea, chickasano pea, chiroko or simply mung (Purseglove, 1977; Sinha, 1977; Duke, 1983). It is synonymous with Phaseolus aureus Roxb. The crop is said to have originated from India and must have been derived from var. sublobata which occurs wild throughout India and Burma (Aykroyd and Doughty, 1964; Purseglove, 1977). From there it has spread to South and East Asia, East and Central Africa, the West Indies and the United States. Mung bean is a low altitude crop grown from sea level to approximately 2000 m, usually as a dry land crop. It thrives best on a good loam soil with well distributed rainfall of 70--90 cm year. It is drought resistant and is susceptible to water-logging. Both short-day and day-neutral cultivars are found in India. It grows well between latitudes 0{\textdegree} and 30{\textdegree} north or south. The temperature range for optimum performance is between 20{\textdegree} and 45{\textdegree}C. In India, yields of mung bean ranging from 100 to 200 kg/ha have been reported (Duke, 1983), whereas averages of 1000 kg/ha and 1125 kg/ha has been reported in Sri Lanka and the United States, respectively.