News in brief - The International Mungbean Improvement Network

Nay Pyi Taw (Myanmar) 13^th October 2017

Mungbean is a short duration crop, producing a high value grain in high demand for direct consumption as “dhal” in South Asia and for “bean sprouts” in developed countries (Europe, Japan). The International Mungbean Improvement Network is supported by ACIAR and involves scientists from Australia, Myanmar, Bangladesh and India. A side benefit of the project is the promotion of cross-border collaboration and the fostering of people-to-people links, around common research and development objectives.

Dr Mahbub Alam from the Pulses Research Centre of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (left) and Mr Kyaw Swar Win from the Department of Agricultural Research (DAR) of Myanmar in Nay Pyi Taw (right)  in front of a flooded plot of mungbean seed production at the DAR station. 

Heavy unseasonal rain in the Nay Pyi Taw region this week have caused the release of water from an irrigation dam above the Research Station and Yezin Agricultural University, causing minor flooding. 

In Myanmar the Department of Agricultural Research is responsible for producing nucleus seeds of the improved varieties used by farmers. The production plot had been harvested once but the monsoon has been long and heavy this year and there is a risk that the second flush of seeds could be lost. An expert in mungbean physiology, Dr Alam mentioned that the plant can survive quite well up to 3 days of submergence. If the plot could be drained within 3 days,  there is a chance to save the crop.