BATAW PRODUCTION GUIDE

The vegetable has wide adaptability to many soil conditions. There are many varieties of bataw. There are bataw that are vines needing trellis for support. Another variety stands erect and not a vine type but bushy with thick foliage. There was variety that can be raised directly to the soil without trellis. Its thick foliage will cover the ground.

The many varieties differed in shape, texture, size of leaves, shape of the flowers, seeds, color of the plants and pod characteristic. It has variety that can tolerate period of drought, flowering time, the condition of the seedling (vigor), period of maturity, resistance to pests and diseases, sensitivity to day-length and the viability of the seeds in many type of soil condition. There are varieties suitable in lowland and upland.

The plant grows fast. Because of its dense foliage, it is best controller for the growth of weeds.

Prepare the land thoroughly. Plow and harrow the field 2 to 3 times to break loss the soil. Plant the seeds directly to the soil in furrows. Plant 2 to 3 seeds per hill. Keep maximum distance each hill as the plant will grow robust and has thick foliage.

Let it grow freely in the soil to cover the land. It is best to suppress weed germination and frequency of weeding. No need to do periodic weeding as the plant control the emergence of weeds. Spot weeding can only be done to isolated portion if the weeds in the field persist.

Most often, there’s no need to apply fertilizer as the plant can adapt to any soil type. But in case the plant will not grow healthy despite its resistance to poor soil then apply periodic fertilization to the plant.

In case of pest infestation, spray the foliage with pesticides for the pests to keep away from the foliage to damage the leaves, flowers and fruits.

The plants can tolerate diseases. But in the event they are severely affected by the disease, remove or uproot the affected plants from the good ones to avoid spread of bacterial infection.

Harvest the young pods regularly. Avoid the pod to mature as it can no longer good to sell to the market.

There are many uses of bataw:

-The dry weight of seeds has crude protein containing high level of iron.

-Its young pod is best serve as table vegetables.

-Dried seeds are good alternative for snack foods, cooked or eaten directly. It was used to process bean cake.

-The leaves and flowers are cooked and eaten.

-Sprouts are good for palatable menu.

-The bean hay serves as forage of many animals.

-It was used as silage.

-The green manure serves as fertilizer.

-It was used in the prevention of soil erosion because of its thick foliage.

-It is good cover crop for plantation.

-It has the ability to serve as nitrogen-fixing crop.