The welcome recent rainfall has perked up most crops – and spring beans are no exception.

Barnaby Patchett, seed specialist with merchants GFP Agriculture Ltd, is pictured here checking a crop of Macho spring beans with Edina Kare, Pulse Trials Officer with breeders LSPB.

He comments that: “the beans were drilled at the end of March and have looked good since they emerged – now the rain has really brought them on and they are in full flower and look set to pod well.”

Edina Kare notes that Macho is a new variety Provisionally Recommended (P1) on the PGRO Recommended List of Spring Beans for 2020 and is a high yielding spring bean variety with the highest thousand seed weight (TSW) on the RL.

“The variety’s thousand seed weight of 682 is a very significant increase in comparison with the 581 average TSW of the other spring beans on the list.

“Macho has a pale hilum as required by export markets and, importantly, its thousand seed weight enhances its marketability as it is ideal for the dehulling market.”