Fababean

Fababean (Vicia faba)

Plant Species
From Montana Interagency Plant Materials Handbook *
By S. Smoliak, R.L. Ditterline, J.D. Scheetz, L.K. Holzworth, J.R. Sims, L.E. Wiesner, D.E. Baldridge, and G.L. Tibke

Fababean is an Old World crop which has been grown for centuries in the eastern Mediterranean, eastern Europe and North Africa. It is generally agreed that it originated between the eastern Mediterranean and Afghanistan during the period 7,000 to 4,000 B.C. Other common names include broadbean, horsebean, fababean and Windsor bean. It is grown primarily for human consumption in the Middle East and for animal feed in Europe. It has been grown recently in Canada for the export market and for animal feed. To date, it has had little impact on Montana agriculture; however, under experimental conditions with high rainfall or irrigation, it has produced from 2,000 to 5,000 pounds per acre of seed and up to 8 tons of dry matter forage per acre. Its greatest potential for use in Montana agriculture is as a protein supplement for livestock and as a silage crop.

Description

Fababean is a tall, upright-growing, annual legume which is indeterminate (continuous) in flowering. Most plants produce a large number of flowers with a basic white background and some purple pigmentation. Many of the flowers abscise and drop with as little as 10 to 15 percent of the flowers surviving to form mature pods. Generally, fababean is self-fertile with about equal amounts of self- and cross-pollination occurring depending on the presence of insect pollinators (bumble bees and honey bees). Under good water conditions the plants may produce up to four additional tillers. It has good straw strength which facilitates harvest as silage. Pods are borne along the hollow stems and contain up to four seeds. The seeds are large (825 to 1,280 seeds per pound) and contain from 28 to 32 percent protein. Like many legumes, fababean is high in lysine and low in methionine. The seeds contain some antinutritional factors, notably trypsin inhibitors and tannins.

Fababean, when properly inoculated with Rhizobium inoculum and seeded into moist soil to ensure formation of nodules on the root, may fix well over 100 pounds of atmospheric nitrogen per acre.

Adaptation

Fababean is well adapted to cool climates and short growing seasons. Frost tolerance and required growing season are comparable to that of barley. Some varieties do not frost kill until temperatures drop below 25 F. Fababean should be seeded as early in the spring, preferably early April, as one can successfully use machinery in the field. This will allow flowering to occur during the cool part of the season thereby decreasing flower and/or pod drop and maximizing yields. Fababean is not well adapted to droughty conditions and thus should be grown in areas with at least 15 inches of annual rainfall or under irrigation.

* The Montana Interagency Plant Materials Handbook (EB69) is no longer in print, but is available for viewing in
Montana County Extension Service and National Resource Conservation Service Offices.