Increasing productivity of mungbean (vigna radiata (l.) Wilczek) under subsistence farming in Eastern Indonesia

Abstract

Mungbean is one of the major food legume and cash crops grown and consumed by small holder farmers under rain-fed conditions in Eastern Indonesia. However, the mungbean productivity has been low, less than 1 ton ha-1 due to a number of reasons including poor awareness about new varieties and skills of crop management. Two trials: varietal trial and management practices were conducted at Malaka District, East Nusa Tenggara during wet season 2008. The varietal trial in six sites resulted in identification of Sriti, Murai, Betet, and Vima 1 varieties had high productivity (1.1-1.5 t ha-1) with single harvest, shorter maturity, compared to the local varieties which were characterized by lower productivity (1.0-1.1 t ha-1), multiple harvests and longer maturity. The management practices found that selected varieties in combination with improved technology gave doubled seed yields compared to the yields when grown using local technology. These activities showed a reliable pathway to increase productivity of mungbean at small holder levels. The varietal and agronomic management trials demonstrated the impact of the technologies on mungbean productivity at small holder levels and identified future needs to sustain food productivity in remote regions on Eastern Indonesia.