Summer is really with us and of course our favourite summer legume in mungbeans comes into its own.
This short rotation crop as it is positioned in our farming systems has many benefits.
Like all crops we plant from seed, seed quality for germination and vigour are therefore main considerations.
The Australian Mungbean Association (AMA) has gone one step further by introducing the AMA-approved mungbean seed scheme.
Not only do our planting seed crops have to have good germ and vigour, they are also selected for being relatively clear of the two bacterial disease of particularly Halo Blight and the tricky Tan Spot.
These two pesky diseases are mostly seed-borne, so very experienced independent paddock inspectors do regular inspections in the growing periods of these designated planting seed crops of mungs.
No, they cannot – and nor does the AMA specify – total clean or disease free seed, however it is much reduced against those painful seed borne diseases.
The other convincing reason for the AMA seed scheme also pertains to seed quality.
This point covers the genetic drift or reduced quality of the planting seed.
After two or three generations of seed production, this same cohort or batch of seed can deteriorate quite considerably – in other words the sample produced in the paddock may have dull colour or even smaller seeds produced.
Not good when our export markets are very specific on wanting large shiny mungbeans from Australia.
This quality specification when achieved certainly earns Aussie farmers the best price for our clean green mungbeans .
The AMA bags are distinctive and, in addition to reduced bacterial disease levels, there are very few if any weeds seeds in the bag.
So have confidence in your summer Mungbean crop and also have confidence that your best planting seed option is in an AMA-approved seed scheme bag.
With words long ago spoken from my father Alec, having good quality planting seed is the cheapest investment in grain farming.
For more information about growing mungbeans this summer please visit www.mungbean.org.au or email agronomist@mungbean.org.au
