Where are black beans produced? An introduction to the latest distribution of major production areas
Black beans are the black seeds of the soybean, a plant in the legume family, also known as lubdou, black soybean, horse feed bean, etc. The outer skin is black, and the inside is yellow or green. Common varieties include green-kernel black bean, yellow-kernel black bean, Hengchun black bean, etc. They like warmth and tolerate high temperatures. The suitable growing temperature is 18-30 degrees. For propagation by sowing, seeds that are large, plump, and glossy black are best. Now let us take a look at where black beans are produced!
Where are black beans produced?
Black beans are planted from south to north throughout our country, and the richness of variety resources ranks first among all countries in the world. At present, our country maintains more than 22,000 soybean variety resources, among which there are 2,980 black soybean entries, accounting for 13.2%, mostly distributed in the Yellow River basin, which is the main production area of small black beans. Today, the Loess Plateau areas of northern Shaanxi and Shanxi still mainly plant small black beans. In some places, farmers collectively call soybeans black beans, call yellow soybeans white black beans, and call black beans black black beans, which shows how widespread and long-standing local black bean cultivation is.
The production environment of black beans
Black beans have an extremely strong ability to adapt to ecological environments, especially harsh environments, so from the northernmost end of our country to the southernmost end, and from east to west, whether on dry land, hilly land, sloping land, shaded land, or in saline-alkali and low-lying wet land, and even in mountain areas at an altitude of 1,700 meters, black beans can be planted. Because the ecological environments of different places are different, such as differences in day length, light intensity, frost-free period length, temperature, soil fertility or poorness and water content, and differences in precipitation among places, many variety types adapted to the environment have formed.
The cultivation regions of black beans
1. Northern soybean region: The northern soybean region includes Xinjiang, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, as well as northern Shaanxi, northern Shanxi, northern Hebei, and the provinces of Northeast China. The cultivation system is 1 crop per year, mainly spring-sown black beans. Although the 3 provinces of Northeast China are included in this region, soybean production is mainly yellow soybeans, and the area is very small. Representative varieties include Daliehei, Shangzhi black bean, Fengcheng medicinal black bean, etc. In Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, and other places and in the northern parts of the 3 provinces of Hebei, Shanxi, and Shaanxi, black beans are planted relatively more, mostly small-seeded black beans with indeterminate pod-setting habit and oval or flat-round seeds.
2. Huai-Hai soybean region: The Huai-Hai soybean region includes the vast area south of the Great Wall in Hebei and north of the Qinling Mountains and Huai River, from the coast in the east to the Minshan Mountains in the west, including Shandong, Henan, central and southern Hebei, southern Shanxi, the Guanzhong Plain of Shaanxi, southern Gansu, and northern Jiangsu and northern Anhui. Varieties include Shunyi black bean, Jindou No. 3, Luheidou No. 1, Yudou No. 4, etc. Summer-sown varieties also include black-skinned bean, etc. In the north and in low-lying saline-alkali land, there are some small-seeded black beans with indeterminate pod-setting habit.
3. Southern soybean region: The southern soybean region includes the area south of the Qinling Mountains and Huai River, including Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, and Hunan in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, Zhejiang and Fujian in the southeast, as well as Guangdong, Guangxi, and other places. Representative varieties include Wupiqingdou, Taichun No. 1, autumn black bean, Shaxian black bean, black soybean, etc. Promoted varieties include Qiudou No. 1, Zhongyou 19, Zhechun No. 2, etc. Spring-sown varieties are intercropped with corn on dry land or relay intercropped between wheat rows. Varieties include Taixing black bean, Wuren black bean, Jinjiang Youwu black bean, etc.
4. Southwest soybean region: The Southwest soybean region includes Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and parts of Guangxi. These areas have relatively high terrain, with an altitude of more than 1,000 meters, and belong to a mid-subtropical climate. Because of differences in altitude, the climates differ greatly. This region is mainly spring-sown black beans, with some summer sowing and autumn sowing as well. Representative varieties include black soybean, Wuzui bean, small-seeded black bean, Liujiang black bean, etc. The plants are generally short and mostly have a determinate pod-setting habit.
5. South China soybean region: The South China soybean region mainly includes the southern areas of Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, and Fujian, as well as Taiwan, China, Hainan, and other provinces, where black beans can be planted in all four seasons. Winter black beans are sown from late December to early January of the following year and mature from mid-April to early May. Spring black beans are sown from late February to early March and mature in early to mid-June. Summer black beans are sown from late May to early June and mature from late August to early September. Autumn black beans are sown from late July to late August and mature from late October to late December.