Thoughts on the Sustainable Development of the Fava Bean Industry in Chongqing

Chengzhang DU,Yanghua LI,Jijun ZHANG

Characteristic Crop Research Institute of Chongqing Academy of Agricultural Sciences,Chongqing 402160,China

Thoughts on the Sustainable Development of the Fava Bean Industry in Chongqing

Chengzhang DU*,Yanghua LI*,Jijun ZHANG**

Characteristic Crop Research Institute of Chongqing Academy of Agricultural Sciences,Chongqing 402160,China

The research analyzed the theoretical basis of the sustainable development of the Chongqing fava bean in terms of the current market economy situation.In regard to practice,several strategies will be suggested for the Chongqing fava bean industry to guide the development of Chongqing’s efficient fava bean agriculture.

Fava bean;Industry;Chongqing;Sustainable development

B ean cultivation is the largest form of production in China and almost half of the world’s production of fava beans is exported, which are mostly distributed in Yunnan,Sichuan,Jiangsu,Hubei,Gansu, Qinghai,and other places[1].As an agricultural municipality,Chongqing is located in the southeastern portion of the Sichuan Basin,surrounded by mountains.The region lacks sunshine in winter and experiences a lot of rain and fog;in fact,in winter Chongqing receives less sunshine than anywhere else in China[2].This particular ecological condition in Chongqing makes fava beans an important cool-season crop. The acreage of fava beans is the second largest in Chongqing after oilseed rape,meaning fava beans play an important role in the Chongqing Plant Structure Adjustment[3].

Chongqing Bean Production and Research Status

Fava Beans in Chongqing have a long history of production,because Chongqing has a unique geographical, climatic,and ecological environment. Farmers have been planting beans for 1 000 years.Fava bean crops are one of the main types of agriculture in the Chongqing area,and acreage was maintained at 121.41 hm2or more before 1949,making it an important contribution to farmers’subsistence[4]. With the promotion of hybrid wheat at the end of the 1960s and the promotion of hybrid rapeseed in the early 2000s,fava bean acreage declined and currently stands at around 60.70 hm2.Before 2008,the progress of fava bean research was slow in Chongqing. The main varieties were some local landraces and the fresh pod average yield was only 1 275 kg/hm2.Fresh pods,meanwhile,had multiple lesions, causing a lower profit on the commodity and seriously affecting farmers’planting enthusiasm.Chongqing’s sunshine duration has increased and this has led to the production of Wushan white beans with a fresh pod yield higher than 1 750 kg/hm2in low humidity conditions within Wushan County.White bean production is a step-by-step process and is currently forming into a local,specialized industry.In 2008,an in-depth study of fava beans,as well as other grain studies, attracted the attention of the relevant government departments and has since made progress both in terms of planting and cultivation of new varieties.Research targets progressively match actual production and for the first time,in 2012,Chongqing has cultivated a new variety of fava bean, Tongcanxian 8,which is suited to Chongqing’s environment(scant sunlight and high humidity).Tongcanxian 8 has a strong resistance to the red spot disease that occurs often near the Yangtze River while its fresh taste and pod appearance superb contribute to its status as a superb commodity.The fresh pods of Tongcanxian 8 are close to an average yield of 1000kg per acre,comprising an average yield increase of 96%from 2008.Tongcanxian 8 has now become the main variety of produce in Chongqing,but the existence of only one fava bean variety still restricts the development of the Chongqing fava bean industry.

Requirements for the Sustainable Development of the Fava Bean Industry in Chongqing

The industrial advantages of fava beans

Fava beans are cool-season crops that don’t compete with the local spring cropland.Otherwise,fava bean can be used throughout their life cycle:fresh pods can be eaten as vegetables,dried seeds can be used for daily staples,the stem can be used as a kind of feed,and fava beans’stems,leaves,flowers,fruits,and seeds can be used for medicinal purposes.Fava beans can also be used as a green manure due to the nitrogen they produce[5].Therefore,to enhance the development and utilization of fava beans and meet the increasing demands of human beings,this paper will also promote a cycle of farmland ecosystems and sustainable development in fava bean industry inChongqing.

The requirements of food consumption

With economic development, people’s living standards are rapidly increasing while the food consumption of urban and rural residents continues to diversify in terms of nutrition and rationalization.Fava beans are highly nutritional crops.One hectogram of fava beans contains 28.2 g of protein, 49 g of carbohydrate,0.8 g of fat,0.6 g of unsaturated fatty acids,300 μg of carotene,0.23 mg of riboflavin,E6.68 mg of vitamin,992 mg of potassium, 305mg of phosphorus,54 mg of calcium,113 mg of magnesium,5.2 mg of iron,4.73 mg of zinc,1.17 mg of copper,4.29 μg of selenium,0.31 mg of thiamine,0.11 mg of riboflavin,and 2.7 mg of niacin[7].In addition,fava beans also contain lecithin,choline, trigonelline,and other functional nutrients[8].Fava beans’nutritional value and health care function are given more and more attention by consumers;they have become a required source of vegetable protein supply for people who live in China’s southeast coastal cities and in Japan[6].

Economic advantages

Fresh fava beans have dominated the agricultural industry in recent years in Chongqing and the market price of fava beans’fresh pods rises year after year.By the end of April 2014,the Tongcanxian 8 fresh pod’s price was 3 Yuan per kg while farmers’net profits were about 1 500 Yuan per acre or so[9].Compared with other local beans,as well as canola and wheat’s input and output,fava beans have a high efficiency and have become a steady source of income to cultivate enterprise.

Ecological advantages

Fava beans are leguminosae and their rhizobia(soil bacteria)have nitrogen-fixing abilities.For every acre of land,nitrogen fixation per production season is up to 13.35 kg,making fava beans an important biological support for the land[6].Meanwhile,the bean roots can turn barely soluble phosphorus and potassium elements into effective nutrients,thereby improving farmland’s ecological environment, and reducing agricultural fertilizer and toxic substance soil residues,which plays a significant role in agricultural pollution.All in all,the fava bean is the best crop for rotation and an excellent crop for improving soil fertility.Expanded fava bean production can help maintain soil fertility and promote a benign cycle system for the sustainable use of farmland.

Strategies for the Sustainable Development of the Fava Bean Industry in Chongqing

Fava beans have become an industrial product that leads sustainable agricultural development in Chongqing.The fava bean industry has seen accurate positioning of industrial development,the improving of technology, an enhancement of service levels,an enhancement of brand awareness,the developing of leading enterprises,and the establishing of an agricultural supply and demand system(productionprocess-market integrated into one system).

Accurately located industrial development of the fava bean industry

While fava beans are an important spring-crop for Chongqing,they do not create a corresponding economic value.The reason for this is that the production yield of the old varieties,planted by farmers years ago,is too low and has not adapted fully adapted to the local environment (Chongqing’s low temperatures in winter,its scant sunlight,and high humidity).The high incidence of red spot disease in fava beans,which is rare throughout the world,often causes a poor yield after a drought-filled winter. This creates high risk and low plant efficiency for fava beans,which also cannot be planted over large areas.

To develop the Chongqing fava bean industry with local characteristics,we must pinpoint the direction of the development of the industry.I think the development of fresh beans is a breakthrough to accelerate industrial development.First,the development of the dry bean industry is unrealistic due to Chongqing’s special ecological environment(heavy diseases,conditions that make drying difficult,easy mildew,and rot);secondly,the fresh fava beans have provided a good industrial base and the people of Chongqing have always adopted local selling habits;third,the fresh fava bean as a vegetables has a high market price and can provide both green manure and fodder after the original sale,which means large enterprises and farmers highly favor it.In 2013, the Chongqing Academy of Agricultural Sciences,a crop research institute,harvested the stems,pods,and leaves of the new variety bean,Tongcanxian 8,to send to the Ministry of Agriculture’s Supervision and Testing Center for the Quality of Agricultural Produce to be tested according to the national GB10392-89 fodder standard. The broad bean leaf quality indicators found that the leaf’s protein content was 21.6%,close to the level of the standard(Table 1),the stalks were much higher than wheat and corn,and the fiber content was also lower than wheat and corn and could be used to extend the industrial chain beans,increasing the value of animal fodder.

Developing disease-resistant and high-quality varieties of fresh fava beans

To accelerate the development of the Chongqing fava bean industry,it is necessary to focus on the economic market and improve the technological ability to develop intercropping forests, no-till rice stubble,straw fodder,green manure,and other biologically resilient,high-quality,fresh fava bean varieties.

Strengthening efficient cultivation techniques

The ultimate goal of agriculturalproduction is to use the smallest investment to get the biggest profit.At present,due to widespread rural aging in Chongqing,it is important to improve agricultural economic efficiency by reducing production costs and improving the quality of products.To realize sustainable agricultural development benefits,the production of high quality agricultural commodities by means of a simplified,intensive,specialized,and large-scale production method has been performed by strengthening the supporting technology research.

Table 1Comparison between the nutritional contents of raw feed material%

Strengthening the regional distribution of bean seeds and the agricultural commodity base establishment

Chongqing’s various districts have different ecological environments for planning fava bean cultivation areas.In Wushan,which has the largest amount of sunshine and the lowest air/soil moisture rate in Chongqing,fava beans seeds have a high yield,a low pest infection rate,a good seed maturity,and a strong germination potential.We recommend Wushan County’s fresh fava beans industry as a base for Chongqing’s dry bean propagation and the best location to develop fava bean production.The other counties in Chongqing should focus on the fresh fava bean industry to develop specialized production and intensive management techniques for improving the quality of fresh bean benefits.

Creating well-known brands and improving the competitiveness of the agricultural market

It is important to focus on fava bean brand development,information services,technical training,product demonstrations,and other activities to establish brand awareness in favor of the Chongqing fava bean industry. Brands include Qinghai’s“green silkworm variety series,”Yunnan’s“kidney bean variety series”,the“butter beans variety series,”and Jiangsu’s“Tongcan variety series.”These brands have exported produce to Japan and other countries and have entered into the international market after processing quick-freezing.

Creating an industrial technology innovation platform and developing beans’industrial diversification

One development target is to establish a fava bean industrial technology innovation platform and form a set of provincial transformations,county extensions,enterprise technology demonstrations,as well as the simplification and diversification of industrial production.In addition to the nutritional advantages of broad beans,broad bean flowers and leaves or other organs also have good medicinal values and health advantages.These elements can be used to develop medicine and health foods,such as using broad bean protein as a form of“artificial beef,”in plant protein drinks, and in yogurt,etc.These products can greatly improve the added value of the beans and create conditions for the future development of agricultural industrialization in Chongqing.At present,the Chongqing Municipal Academy of Agricultural Sciences has developed“fava bean tea”for the prevention and treatment of elderly people with Parkinson’s disease.In other words,the market development potential of fava beans is huge.

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Responsible editor:Xiaoxue WANG

Responsible proofreader:Xiaoyan WU

Supported by csct2012jjA80042;cstc2013yykfc80002;Ycstc,2013ac1001;Ycstc, 2014ac1010;Ycstc,2014nc1004;201303129;CARS-09;Construction of Mutant Bank of"Tongcanxian No.8"Induced by EMS.

*Corresponding author.E-mail:zhangjijun98765@126.com

Received:March 2,2015 Accepted:April 16,2015