Bush Lab Lab (chicken beans)

Lablab is a summer-growing annual or occasionally short-lived perennial forage legume. It is a twining, climbing, trailing or upright herbaceous plant that can grow to a length of 3-6 m. It has a deep taproot and vigorous, glabrous or pubescent trailing stems. Lablab leaves are alternate and trifoliolate. The leaflets are rhomboid in shape, 7.5-15 cm long x 8-14 cm broad, acute at the apex. The upper surface is smooth while the underside has short hairs. Inflorescences are many-flowered racemes borne on elongated peduncles. The flowers are white to blue or purple in colour, about 1.5 cm long, typically papillonaceous in shape. Lablab fruits are linear, 4-15 cm long x 1-4 cm broad, smooth and beaked pods that contain between 2 and 8 seeds. Lablab is a multipurpose legume. Its immature seeds and pods, and young leaves are edible and cooked as vegetables. Mature dry beans are edible but they require prolonged cooking with several changes of water. How to grow: Dibble single seed 30 cm apart on one side of the ridge formed at a spacing of 60 cm for bush type. For pandal type sow 2 – 3 seeds/pit at 2 x 3 m spacing. Spacing for this Dolichos beans is 1 x 1 m. Bush type can be grown throughout the year; Climbing type can be grown during July – August.