LABOUR EXTENSIVE SEED IS THE KEY TO GROWING COST-EFFECTIVE CROPS…
Dry sugar bean seed is regarded as one of the most important field crops in South Africa on account of its high protein content and dietary benefits.
South Africa produces only 75 % of the dry sugar bean seed consumed in the country therefore a continuous effort is being made to obtain higher production, increase profitability and to meet the ever-increasing demand for food in South Africa and Africa.
Dry sugar bean seeds are extremely labour intensive field crops as the plants lodge into the soil and the pods grow extremely close to the ground.
This labour intensity increases the price significantly which makes the production of Dry sugar bean seeds an attractive option for commercial farmers and grower in and around South Africa.
However with the present high cost of labour, farmers are seriously considering mechanical harvesting… and finally they can!
In 2015, McDonald Seeds and Pro-Seed changed the way farmers looked at Dry Sugar Bean Seed production forever…
Based on the breeding programme, at Ukulinga Research Farm in Pietermaritzburg, this breeding programme has seen the development of upright determinate dry sugar bean plants to facilitate mechanical harvesting. This game changing productions means that the plant has a strong upright stem which prevents it from lodging therefore it grows upwards fairly high of the ground which makes it easy to mechanically harvest the crops.