Patani Vegetable Farming

Patani Vegetable

Lima beans or patani is a vegetable with seeds as it's edible form. It has the scientific name Phaseolus lunatus and is considered as a legume. Legumes have symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria in structures called root nodules which makes them less dependent or nitrogen fertilizers. Patani can be grown for crop rotation and as a high value crop which can be sold in the local markets or exported. Production guide includes proper care of patani vegetable. Farming patani is ideal when resource are available and market demand is high.

Patani Images

Patani Nutritional Value

Shown below is the 100 gram cooked Lima bean nutritional value:

Energy 115 kcal
Carbohydrates 20.88 g
Sugars 2.9 g
Dietary fiber 7 g
Fat 0.38 g
Protein 7.8 g
Vitamins
Vitamin B1 (14%) 0.161 mg
Vitamin B2 (5%) 0.055 mg
Vitamin B3 (3%) 0.421 mg
Vitamin B5 (8%) 0.422 mg
Vitamin B6 (12%) 0.161 mg
Vitamin B9 (21%) 83 μg
Vitamin E (1%) 0.18 mg
Vitamin K (2%) 2 μg
Minerals
Calcium (2%) 17 mg
Iron (18%) 2.39 mg
Magnesium (12%) 43 mg
Manganese (25%) 0.516 mg
Phosphorus (16%) 111 mg
Potassium (11%) 508 mg
Sodium (0%) 2 mg
Zinc (10%) 0.95 mg

The beans originated from the American continents and believed to be brought by Spaniards to the Philippines. Since then, the patani beans are part of the vegetable bean component of many dishes. The taste of the bean is aromatic and has a unique taste. The taste complements other vegetable textures and can be added to squash, string beans, eggplant, bitter guard and other common vegetables.The green bulky pod contains the black, white, brown-white, orange-white, violet, and dotted beans. Green lima beans are not common in the Philippines. The commonly available patani are white and black with the dotted pattern.

Patani Vegetable Farming

Patani is easy to grow. It germinates from seeds that came from a mature and dry patani pods. Patani pod can have 3 to 4 seeds. Patola plant is an annual vine, but may also persist for 2 years when the conditions are good. It has tendrils for support and for hooking which means the plant requires trellis. The patani plant has pink, or whitish violet flowers and pollinated by butterflies. Flower self pollinate and ants are attracted to the nectar the plant produces.

Patani is a tropical plant which requires enough moisture and warm temperature with plenty of sunlight during fruiting stage.

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1. Prepare land for planting
First prepare the land by removing grasses and weeds. Cultivate the soil to ensure proper growth of the young plant. During rainy season, it is advisable to raise patani beds to avoid becoming waterlogged.
2. Plant the seeds on the prepared bedding. You may use a seed from a dried and mature patani pod. Patani seeds may have been stored in a glass jar for at least a year to ensure that the seeds will germinate. Old seeds may not germinate. The seeds are planted directly into the furrows. Two to three seeds per hole separated at least 1 meter apart for the seeds.
3. Adding sticks for support should be done to prepare patani for growth and climbing.  For available materials, use bamboo sticks and cuttings, or ipil-ipil branches for posts. Provide the plants with trellis to produce many fruits. Making the patani crawl or free climb will not yield many fruits. Trellising is needed since the patani plant is a vine plant.
4. Fertilizers are applied to enhance soil nutrients. You may apply complete fertilizers or urea to the plant at 1/2 tablespoon per plant. This well ensure fruits will develop and nutrients in the soil is restored.
5. Patani needs good sunlight to make food by photosynthesis. Training patani vines by guiding it towards he trellis can be done by tying the stem on the vertical pole or ladder-like trellis until it reaches the overhead trellis.
6. For big patani vineyard, irrigate the crop every two weeks after emergence at summer. Repeat irrigating at seven days interval throughout the growing season when there is no precipitation. This will allow the vines to absorb water for growth.
7. Cultivation can be occasionally done every 3 months together with additional application of fertilizer. This is recommended to loosen the soil around the roots and to cover the exposed portions. Removing weeds must also be done simultaneously with cultivation.
8. Pest and diseases can be controlled. Lima Beans can be attacked by bean beetles, flea beetles, leaf hoppers, mites and aphids. Spraying pesticides to the whole vineyard can be used to control aphids, mites and leaf hoppers. It has been known that aphids can spread bean mosaic virus. Control Measures that can be applied are planting resistant varieties, restrain nitrogen fertilization and irrigation, fungicide application if symptom is becoming severe, do clean cultural management practices, and practice crop rotation to break the cycle of disease and its proliferation.

Patani Harvesting

Harvest the patani beans when the pods are bulky. Some pods may not be mature and the seeds are small. Leave the young patani and it will eventually mature. Older seeds may dry and become brittle and hard. Make sure to harvest every 3-5 days. Harvesting is done by hand and picked carefully from the patani stems.