Adzuki Bean Planting Methods and Key Technical Points

When people suddenly hear the name adzuki bean, many find it strange and mistake it for red bean. Here we will introduce the adzuki bean and its planting techniques.

1. What is the adzuki bean?

In daily life, people always lump the adzuki bean and the red bean together, but in fact this is not the case. The adzuki bean is actually another name for the rice bean, while what is generally called the red bean is actually the rosary pea, that is, the red bean referred to by Wang Wei in “Red beans grow in the south” in “Yearning”; it refers to the latter. In botanical classification, the rice bean belongs to the Fabaceae family, Vigna genus, while the red bean belongs to the Fabaceae family, Abrus genus; the distinction between the two is actually very great.

The adzuki bean originated in the tropical regions of Asia, and is also cultivated in Korea, Japan, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries. Our country is the world's largest producer of rice beans and also a major exporter. The adzuki bean has strong medicinal value; its use for promoting diuresis and treating strangury, removing dampness and reducing jaundice has a long history, with many formulated prescriptions, such as the Rice Bean Decoction in “Comprehensive Recording of Sage-Like Medicine” and the Ephedra, Forsythia and Rice Bean Decoction in “Treatise on Cold Damage Diseases”. Modern research has found that it has good effects in treating acute nephritis, cirrhotic ascites, chickenpox, skin diseases and other illnesses, and it also has multiple effects such as antioxidant and estrogen-like actions.

2. Planting techniques for the adzuki bean

1. Seed selection. Focus on selecting varieties with thin skins, large grains, bright color, plump seeds and good sandy starch quality for planting.

2. Crop rotation. The rice bean likes warmth and is not tolerant of waterlogging; it avoids continuous cropping and repeated cropping. It is best to choose a plot where no legume crops have been grown for more than 2 years.

3. Sowing. Generally sow from late April to mid-May; in the cold northern regions, sowing from May 5 to May 15 is sufficient.

4. Weeding. Cultivate at the appropriate time to eliminate weeds in the field, so as to loosen the soil, raise soil temperature, and regulate soil moisture and nutrients.

5. Fertilization. Apply nitrogen fertilizer skillfully, apply phosphate fertilizer heavily, apply potassium fertilizer according to differences, and appropriately increase the application of molybdenum fertilizer and bacterial fertilizer

6. Pest and disease control. Pest and disease control should focus on ecological regulation, with chemical control as a supplement. To reduce environmental pollution, pollution-free fungicides and biological insecticides can be used.

The above is some small knowledge about the adzuki bean. When planting the adzuki bean, it must be done according to the local natural environment, and planting must not be carried out blindly. Finally, as for red beans and rice beans, everyone should not confuse them anymore.