The toughness of mungs on display
THE Australian Mungbean Association will host its annual field day at the Hermitage Research Station in Warwick on April 4.
AMA president Mark Schmidt said the field day was about showcasing current mung bean varieties as well as new upcoming varieties.
“It might be a year to showcase the toughness of mung beans and how they were actually able to get harvested with no rain in crop, with extreme heat and no moisture,” Mr Schmidt said.
“And some of the yields are still around that 0.3 to 1 tonne per hectare.
“They’re in the process of being harvested. The main crop was planted in December and being harvested now.
“Some of the crops are re-flowering now (after the rain). The quality might be a bit poorer but at least the yields might be a bit better. So some of those later crops might benefit from this rain.”
The day will start with a barbecue breakfast, followed by a round robin where attendees will visit six tents for 15 minutes each to hear talks on a variety of topics:
■ DAF/USQ – soil health, rhizobia, nematodes.
■ DAF – agronomy, weeds, farming systems (and possible inclusion of CSIRO and irrigation findings).
■ DAF – crop protection and grain storage.
■ USQ – pathology (powdery mildew).
■ UQ – agronomy, physiology.
■ QUT – halo blight, NAM. Agronomist (and Rural Weekly columnist) Paul McIntosh from Pulse Australia will give an industry update and Mr Schmidt will present on marketing and the industry association.
Last year’s mung bean field day had 60 people attend and Mr Schmidt said they were hoping for more than that this year.
To RSVP for the event, email secretary@mungbean.org.au, or for further information phone Mark Schmidt 0477 304 241 or Paul McIntosh 0429 566 198.