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More Faba Bean, Less Pollution
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In the Dilingat village of Ba
haira Governorate in Egypt, Abu
Ahmed (right) proudly displays his
faba bean crop full of healthy
pods, grown without using fungi-
cides. In the past, he had to apply
two or more fungicide sprays to
save his crop from the chocolate
spot disease. He is one of hundreds
of farmers in the Upper Egypt to
Delta area who are participating in
large-scale demonstrations of the
newly released high-yielding and
disease-resistant varieties of faba
bean, and improved production
practices that bring them higher
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Average annual faba-bean
production in Egypt has risen
from 269,000 tonnes in 1977
to 442,000 tonnes in 1998,
with the yields per hectare
now being the third highest
in the world, after France
and Germany. The use of fun-
gicides and herbicides, ear-
lier used to protect the crop
from diseases and a parasitic
weed, has also been drasti-
cally reduced to protect the
environment. What made this
possible?
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profits. These demonstrations are organized by ICARDA's Nile Valley and Red Sea Regional Program.
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eases in the Delta and New Lands. They can cause heavy yield losses and even wipe out the crop. Chocolate spot appears as brown
spots on the leaves and stem. Aphid-
transmitted viruses also pose a serious threat to faba bean. The Faba Bean Necrotic Yellows (FBNY) and the Bean Yellow Mosaic (BYM) are the most prevalent viruses, particularly in Middle Egypt. These viruses alone are known to have caused up to 90% yield losses in some years. Broomrape is common in Middle and Upper Egypt, as well as in the Delta. Depending on severity of infection, it can cause up to 80% yield losses. This parasitic weed sucks up nutrients from faba bean plants, which then wilt or fall over, and also competes with the faba bean crop for food and water. Broom-rape is also a serious problem in Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Syria and Tunisia. Its seeds are tiny, among the smallest known, and therefore can be spread quickly over large areas by wind and water. The seeds can survive for over 10 years in
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the soil.
The threats from diseases and parasitic weed to faba bean are worsened by the climate. In Egypt and other areas of the West Asia and North Africa region, the cool winter season, when the rain falls, is very short. It is preceded and succeeded by high temperatures. To avoid this, farmers traditionally delay planting by a couple of weeks, until after 15 November, to reduce the problem of chocolate spot and broomrape, both of which like humid conditions. But, if farmers delay planting, the crop faces the challenges of high temperatures, lack of water, and too much light in April and May when it is at a critical stage of its growth. Shortening the growing season in this way to by-pass diseases can reduce faba bean yields by up to 30%. The high temperatures also encourage the build-up of aphids, and therefore of viruses that they transmit to the crop.
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By Shaaban Khalil
and M.C. Saxena
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 aba bean is an important component of the staple diet in Egypt, the most common recipe being foul mudammis (see also page 10). Falafel, made with green or dry faba bean seeds mixed with chickpea, is another product commonly used for making sandwiches that provide nutritious food for the poor. In the 1970s, Egypt produced about 269,000 tonnes of faba bean per year, which was not enough to meet domestic demand.
Two diseases, chocolate spot (Botrytis fabae) and rust (Uromyces fabae), and a parasitic weed known as broomrape (Orobanche crenata) were mainly responsible for causing production losses. Also, the yield potential of varieties used by farmers at that time was low.
Chocolate spot and rust are the main dis-
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