Botanical Name : Lablab Purpureus L.
Family : Fabaceae (Alt. Leguminosae)
Subfamily : Faboideae
Tribe : Phaseoleae

Introduction

· Lablab Is A Dual-Purpose Legume Native To Africa And Is Traditionally Grown As A Pulse Crop For Human Consumption In South And South-East Asia And Eastern Africa. Flowers And Immature Pods Are Also Used As A Vegetable. It Is Also Used As A Fodder Legume And Is Sown For Grazing And Conservation In Broad-Acre Agricultural Systems In Tropical Environments With A Summer Rainfall. It Is Used As Green Manure, Cover Crop And As Fodder In Cut-Andcarry System And As A Concentrate Feed. It Can Be Incorporated Into Cereal Cropping Systems As A Legume Ley To Address Soil Fertility Decline And Is Used As An Intercrop Species With Maize To Provide Better Legume/Stover Feed Quality. As A Dual Purpose (Human Food And Animal Feed) Legume, It Is Sown As A Monoculture Or In Intercrop Systems. Three Harvests Are Possible From Annual Types, But Can Not Stand Heavy Grazing Of Stems. For Green Manure, The Crop Should Be Cut Before Flower Initiation. As A Forage, The Crop Should Be Utilised Before Flowering. The Plant Has A Peculiar Buggy Smell (Fragrance). It Is Quite Hardy And Drought Resistant, Although Cold Weather Depresses Pollination And Seed Setting. It Cannot Thrive In Waterlogged Conditions. Lablab Is Remarkably Adaptable To Wide Areas Under Diverse Climatic Conditions Such As Arid, Semi-Arid, Sub-Tropical And Humid Regions Where Temperature Vary Between 22°C–35°C, Low Lands And Uplands And Many Types Of Soils And The Ph Varying From 4.4 To 7.8. Being A Legume, It Can Fix Atmospheric Nitrogen To The Extent Of 170 Kg/Ha Besides Leaving Enough Crop Residues To Enrich The Soil With Organic Matter.

Botanical Description

· It Is An Annual Or Biennial Legume And Attains A Height Of 0.9-1.8 M. The Stems Are Robust And Well Branched. Leaves Are Trifoliate And Large. Leaflets Are Oval, 10–15 Cm Long, Smooth On The Upper Side And Slightly Hairy On Underneath. Inflorescence Is Loose And Multi Flowered. Flower Of Varied Colours, White, Purple Or Reddish Are Borne On Axillary Racemes. Pods Are 3–12 Cm Long, Smooth, Curved With 2–4 Large Seeds. Seeds Are Globose, Ovate Or Flattened, Brown To Black In Colour With Conspicuous White Line At The Hilum Or Point Of Attachment To The Pod.

Cultivation Practices

· After Two Ploughings At The Onset Of Monsoon, The Seeds Are Sown In Line (40–45 Kg/ Ha). The Seeds Are Sown In Rows 1 M Apart With A Seed To Seed Distance Of 35 Cm At A Depth Of 3–5 Cm. At The Time Of Sowing 10–15 Kg N, 40–60 Kg P2O5 And 20–25 Kg K2O/Ha Should Be Applied To The Soil.