The Impact of Mungbean Research in China

4 Mungbean Production in China4.1 Dry bean production trendsSince official data for mungbean production is notavailable for all years, we will begin by looking atproduction trends of “dry beans”, as made availableby Food and Agriculture Organization of theUnited Nations (FAO). Among total pulses, drybeans account for one of the largest groups. Thegroup of dry beans includes Phaseolus and Vignaspecies such as mungbean, adzuki bean, blackgram, and scarlet runner bean. During the past 15years, China’s total production of dry beans rangedfrom 1.2 to 1.8 million MT, except in 1991 and 1992,when the production area was sharply decreasedafter China’s ‘Drought of the Century’ in 1991 andearly 1992 (Fig. 1). The yield of dry bean fluctuatedbetween about 975 to 1500 kg/ha during 1986 to1991, dipped to 900 kg/ha in 1992 and then grewsteadily to 1467 kg/ha in 2001. On average, theyield of dry beans has increased 1.6% per year,total production levels have increased 1.0% per year,but the area in production has declined at the rateof 0.6% per year. 22,0001,8001,6001000 MT/ 1000ha/ kg/ha1,4001,2001,0008006004001986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001Area Yield ProductionFig. 1. Production trends of dry beans in China, 1986–2000Average annual growth rates: production = 1%, yield = 1.6%; area cultivated = -0.6%.Source: FAOSTAT (2001).2 The estimation is based on the least square growth rate. The regression equation takes the form log X t= a + bt. In theseequations, X is the variable and t is time. If b* is the least-squares estimate of b, then the average annual growth rate isobtained as [antilog (b*)-1] and is multiplied by 100 to express it as a percentage.5