The Impact of Mungbean Research in China

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tion of China, with an annual output of over 100,000tons (Fig. 5). The highest output of mungbean productionin Henan was 166,000 tons in 1989. Productionlevels decreased in the 1990s, except in1993 in which the output was 160,000 tons. In 2000,mungbean output was 127,000 tons, which is atthe highest level in recent years. The production ofpeanuts and soybeans in Henan is increasing,which may explain the declining importance ofmungbeans here.Jilin, Inner Mongolia, and Shannxi are othermajor mungbean producing areas in China (Table1). Recently mungbean production in Jilin rose rapidly,and Jilin has become the major producer in2000 with 148,000 tons mungbean output. This figureexceeds that of Henan. The development ofmungbean output changed greatly in Inner Mongolia.The output in 1997 was only about 37,000 tons,but this figure rose sharply to 117,000 tons in 1998.Shannxi is well known for producing high qualityminor miscellaneous grain and its mungbean outputis around 70,000 tons per year.Table 1. Ten leading provinces of mungbeanoutput in China in 1995 and 20001995 2000OutputOutputProvince (1000 MT) Province (1000 MT)Henan 108 Jilin 148Sichuan 84 Henan 127Shannxi 50 Inner Mongolia 67Jilin 46 Shannxi 66Shandong 42 Sichuan 64Hubei 40 Hubei 62Hebei 38 Anhui 61Shanxi 34 Hunan 42Hunan 26 Chongqing 32Xinjiang 25 Helongjiang 31Subtotal 493 Subtotal 700National total 680 National total 891Source: Ministry of Agriculture of China (1995–2000), ChineseAgricultural Statistics Information.18.0Average annual growth = -2.0%16.014.012.0Production (1000 MT)10.08.06.04.02.00.01986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000Fig. 5. Mungbean production in Henan, 1986–2000Source: Henan Statistical Bureau (1986–2001).9
5 Mungbean consumption in ChinaMungbean has been consumed in China forcenturies. It is consumed as a seed, sprout, or inprocessed forms that include jellies, noodles,cakes, and brews. Mungbean is also used in traditionalmedicines.Income growth and urbanization are likely toboost food demand considerably and change themix of foods consumed in China. As incomes grow,demand for meat, fish, vegetable oils, and dairyproducts will grow particularly fast. The country’stransition from rural semi-subsistence to urbanlifestyles will also have profound impacts on consumptionpatterns, shifting demand from self-grownrice, wheat, and vegetables to fish, meat, processedfoods, and restaurant meals. Consumers will alsopay more attention to food quality and they maydemand foods with specific attributes.5.1 Nutritional value of mungbeanMungbean is a highly nutritious pulse due toits rich protein content and excellent digestibility.Table 2 gives an overview on some of the importantnutrients that mungbean contains in its variousforms of consumption. Note the high lysine content,which makes mungbean a good complementaryfood for rice-based diets, in which lysine isusually the first limiting amino acid (Chen et al.1987).Research at AVRDC has shown that the ironin mungbeans can be made more biologically avail-able if mungbean is cooked together with certainvegetables, such as tomato, mustard greens, andcabbage (AVRDC 1997, 1998, 1999). It has beendemonstrated that consumption of mungbeans inthis form can substantially increase body iron storesof anemic schoolchildren (Weinberger 2002).Mungbean seed and mungbean soup is a richsource of alkaloids, coumarin, and phytosterin thatplay an important role in promoting the physiologicalmetabolism of human beings and animals.In traditional Chinese medicine, parts of themungbean plant are used for treating various ailments,including hepatitis, gastritis, uraemia, toxicosis,red dysentery, cholera, corneal opacity andmacula (Zheng et al. 2002).5.2 Mungbean consumption trendsMungbean consumption has been relativelysteady compared to total pulse consumption inChina. Mungbean consumption has increased at arate of 0.7% per year from 1986–2000 while pulseconsumption overall has declined at an averageannual rate of 5.8% (Fig. 6).The reason is not that production has declinedso much; rather, pulses are increasingly being putto different uses. In 1986, 956,000 MT of the totalpulses produced were being used as animal feed;in 2000 this figure had grown to 2,132,000 MT (annualgrowth rate of 6.4%) (FAOSTAT, 2001). In con-Table 2. Nutrient content of mungbean in various formsNutrient Raw Mashed/ flour Noodles Sprouts DryKilocalories 306.0 361.5 381.0 61.0 116.0Protein (g) 20.3 24.5 0.3 6.6 7.7Vitamin A (RE) 5.0 6.0 0.0 1.0 2.0Vitamin C (mg) 0.0 0.0 0.0 8.0 0.0Iron (mg) 6.6 6.4 0.5 1.1 2.5Zinc (mg) 3.4 3.7 0.1 0.6 1.3Folate (µg) 549.0 499.5 0.0 86.0 208.0Amino acids (g) 10.2 12.0 0.1 3.1 3.9Lysine (g) 1.6 1.9 0.0 0.5 0.6Source: Calloway et al. 199410
Page 3 and 4: AVRDC—The World Vegetable Center
Page 5 and 6: List of TablesTable 1. Ten leading
Page 7 and 8: 2 Mungbean research in China2.1 Cro
Page 9 and 10: 3 China’s mungbean production pol
Page 11 and 12: 4.2 Mungbean production trendsSince
Page 13: staple grains. Fluctuations in area
Page 17 and 18: 6 International mungbean tradeChina
Page 19 and 20: Compared to mungbean exports, the a
Page 21 and 22: 7 Price analysis of mungbean in Chi
Page 23: 7.3 Price differences amongregionsS
Page 26 and 27: mungbean research has generated hig
Page 28 and 29: 10 SummaryMungbean has been an impo
Page 30 and 31: AnnexesAnnex 1. Estimation of mungb
Page 32: AVRDC—The World Vegetable Center

The Impact of Mungbean Research in China

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