WHY GROW MUNGS

MUN EANS A E THE stand-out summer crop alternative offering the greatest opportunity to turn soil moisture into dollars. The wide sowing window in summer and the quick growing nature of mungbeans means that if a grower is ready to go at a moment s notice they can take advantage of summer storms that fill the soil profile. mungbeans Like all summer will benefit crops, from a starter fertiliser that includes phosphorus, with or without zinc but there is no need for nitrogen fertiliser if you make sure the seed is properly inoculated with live rhizobia at planting. Mungbeans often allow for double cropping back to a mid- to late-planted crop in winter. Ideally this would be a cereal but with many growers sowing a large chickpea crop, volunteer mungbeans can become a problem. y avoiding medium to heavy rates of atrazine for weed control in other summer crops, growers can keep their options open for the following winter cropping program. While often considered an uncompetitive crop, more evidence is now available showing mungbeans can suppress weed seed set using narrower row spacing. The very hot conditions experienced in many regions last season, particularly in January saw soil surface temperatures of well over 60 degrees C on Darling Downs black soils. Other locations may have even been hotter. ut mungbeans showed their tenacity with crops observed still green at 30 cm high and still trying to flower and set pods, even after being in hot paddocks for 60 to 90 days. While yield certainly suffered many were surprised at ust how tough the modern mungbean varieties are under adverse conditions. Having the backing of a specially-trained mungbean agronomist will give growers added confidence to grow the best crop possible for the season. More information: paul@pulseaus.com.au www.mungbean.org.au