In Australia, mung beans are one of the highest-value grain crops, attracting about $1,100 a tonne, which is about three times higher than wheat. Currently, 90% of the Australian crop is exported to India, China and other parts of Asia. The CSIRO has forecast that Australia’s retail plant protein market will skyrocket and could be valued at $6bn by 2030.
At the end of November 2023, prices for new-crop mung beans lifted to $1250/t for processing-grade product, up $100/t on the previous month, with the product in strong demand from China and other destinations.
When demand from India and China is simultaneously strong mung bean prices do well.
Mung bean, (Vigna radiata), is a legume and part of the pea family. It is grown for its edible seeds and sprouts. The mung bean is thought to be native to the Indian subcontinent and is widely grown in Asia for use in a variety of sweet and savoury dishes, particularly in India, China, Korea, and Thailand. It is also grown in relatively dry tropical and subtropical areas, including Australia but also in the Caribbean and parts of Africa. Like other culinary beans, mung beans are high in dietary fibre as well as protein. They are also mineral-rich and a source of iron, potassium and magnesium as well as a number of essential amino acids.
The mung bean is a fast-growing erect or semi-erect annual plant with a quite sturdy taproot. Like many other members of the pea family, mung bean plants add nitrogen to the soil via a nitrogen-fixing bacteria found in nodules on their roots.
The compound leaves alternate along the branching stems and have three leaflets that are roughly triangular to ovate. The small pale yellow or greenish flowers grow in dense clusters and are insect-pollinated. The resulting legume fruits, borne in pendulous whorls, are long and straight, and they turn dark at maturity; each pod holds up to 20 small seeds. The most common mung bean cultivar bears green seeds, but yellow, brown, and mottled green variations also occur.
Mung bean is a summer pulse crop that is grown in northern NSW and Queensland. It fits easily into the northern cropping system and it can have two planting windows, in spring and summer.
The Australian Mung Bean Association estimated the Australian crop harvested in 2022 to be around 120,000t. The total fluctuates widely due mainly to how moist the soil is, rainfall and broader weather conditions. Grower judgements about competition for export markets also influence production volumes.
Mung bean is a warm-season and frost-intolerant plant. Mung beans can be planted in temperate, subtropical and tropical regions. The most suitable temperature for mung bean germination and growth is 15–18 °C.
Mung bean has high adaptability to various soil types, while the best pH of the soil is between 6.2 and 7.2.
Mung bean is a short-day plant, meaning that it cannot flower under short nights or if a pulse of artificial light is shone on the plant for several minutes during the night. So, they require a continuous period of darkness before floral development can begin and long days will delay its flowering and podding.
If you’d like to learn more about mung beans and other crops please explore other pages on this site or you can read our articles.
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