Legume Lab Project Builds Capacity at the University of Zambia
Print
EmailFrom the June 2023 Newsletter
The Legume Lab project, "Genetic Improvement of Dried Beans for Bruchid Resistance for Southern Africa" has recently installed two Mattson cookers at the University of Zambia in Lusaka.
Long cooking times is a major constraint in the consumption of protein rich beans. The addition of the Mattson cookers will allow the project to easily research cooking times of the different common bean varieties they are developing.
The research team led by North Dakota State University is working to release bean varieties that are resistant to bruchids and have reduced cooking times.
Bruchids are a post-harvest pest responsible for over 48% of bean losses in quality and quantity of common bean in storage. The new varieties which offer both the reduced cooking times and bruchid resistance are expected to be welcomed by small holder farmers throughout the Zambian bean growing regions.
