permaculture

[lflondon@mindspring.com]

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• From: "Pete W" <pete@bigthingy.com>
• Subject: Mucuna the magic bean
• Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2001 18:20:48 +0930

Hi everyone
I saw on ABC's Landline program (for non aussies..this is our farming
program) on saturday, about a bean which the farmers of guatemala were
planting.

Mucuna beans have doubled the output of the farmers by inoculating the soil
with nitrogen and have saved the farmers from cutting down any more
rainforest to plant in...previously they cut rainforest down to farm an
area, then when the soil (which usually gets replenished with dead and
decaying plant matter)cannot sustain another crop they used to move on and
cut another area....

The bean has stopped all that...it produces...wait for it.... 100 tonnes per
hectare of plant matter !!!!... it's being hailed as the miracle bean...
some grow it as a green manure... some feed it out with the crop to
animals.... some use the bean seed in bread mixes...

They reckon they can beat the farmer who uses mechanical methods by just
using a machette to slash the plant down and let it rot into the soil, the
worms do a better job of aerating the soil..... now.... isn't that what
we've "Bean" tellin em ?

heres the link if anyone is interested.

http://www.abc.net.au/landline/stories/s349666.htm

see ya
Pete



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• From: "Pete W" <petewibb@mudpond.com>
• Subject: Re: Mucuna the magic bean
• Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2001 18:38:52 +0930

"Pete W" <pete@bigthingy.com> wrote in message
news:9WIi7.5369$Nd2.86372@newsfeeds.bigpond.com...
> heres the link if anyone is interested.
>
> http://www.abc.net.au/landline/stories/s349666.htm

And I forgot the other link I wanted to give ya

http://www.idrc.ca/cover_crop/photos.html

see ya
Pete



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