Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 4.0

Overview of Green Gram (Vigna radiata L.) Crop, Its Economic Importance, Ecological Requirements and Production Constraints in Kenya

Mercy Kiende Muchomba, Esther Mwende Muindi, Jackson Muema Mulinge

Journal of Agriculture and Ecology Research International · pp. 1–11 · Published 23 Feb 2023

10.9734/jaeri/2023/v24i2520

Abstract

Green gram (Vigna radiata L. Wilczek), also known as mung bean, is an important grain legume containing a high amount of digestible protein, amino acids, sugar, minerals, soluble dietary fibers, and vitamins. In Kenya, green gram production is done mainly by smallholder farmers for food and sale. The crop is mainly grown in arid and semi-arid regions and plays important role towards achieving improved human nutrition and health conditions, reducing poverty through food security and enhancing ecosystem resilience as a source of human food, animal feed, soil nitrogen and soil health. Statistics show that though average area under production has been growing since 1978, average production has been fluctuating and consumption increasing steadily upholding constant deficit which is catered for through imports. The country’s average green gram yield ranges between 0.5-0.6 ton/ha compared to crop potential of 1.5 ton/ha and global average yield of 0.73 tons/ha. The production is mainly constrained by myriad of factors such as climate change effects, pest and disease prevalence, poor agronomic practices, land degradation and soil health decline. Other challenges included: lack of structured marketing systems and poor research- extension- farmer linkages, Possession of limiting climate smart agriculture knowledge and skills. Access to credit facilities and agro processing technologies as well as narrow post-harvest loss management knowledge and skills was also identified as other key green gram production constraints more so for small scale farmers. It was however noted that the country has potential to achieve optimal greengram production and optimal production require adoption of climate smart technologies, improved flow of information, streamlined government policies, credit facilities as well as structured market system. The current work reviews green gram crop, with emphasis on its biology, economic importance, ecological requirements, current production status in Kenya, production constraints and their management.

Green grams production constraints soil health climate change climate smart technologies

References (40)

  1. 1 The Nature and Properties of Soils [DOI]
  2. 2 Abiotic and biotic stress combinations [DOI]
  3. 3 Efficient soil microorganisms: A new dimension for sustainable agriculture and environmental development [DOI]
  4. 4 Temperature stress and plant sexual reproduction: uncovering the weakest links [DOI]
  5. 5 Future Global Meteorological Drought Hot Spots: A Study Based on CORDEX Data [DOI]
  6. 6 Post-harvest food losses in a maize-based farming system of semi-arid savannah area of Tanzania [DOI]
  7. 7 Atlas of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) production in Africa
  8. 8 Food Legumes and Rising Temperatures: Effects, Adaptive Functional Mechanisms Specific to Reproductive Growth Stage and Strategies to Improve Heat Tolerance [DOI]
  9. 9 Activation of Secondary Metabolism in Citrus Plants Is Associated to Sensitivity to Combined Drought and High Temperatures [DOI]
  10. 10 Salinity and High Temperature Tolerance in Mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek] from a Physiological Perspective [DOI]
  11. 11 Summer heat and drought extremes trigger unexpected changes in productivity of a temperate annual/biannual plant community [DOI]
  12. 12 Poaceae vs. Abiotic Stress: Focus on Drought and Salt Stress, Recent Insights and Perspectives [DOI]
  13. 13 Food and Feed from Legumes and Oilseeds [DOI]
  14. 14 Plant resources of tropical Africa 1. Cereals and pulses.
  15. 15 Responses of mungbean ( Vigna radiata L.) genotypes to heat stress: Effects on reproductive biology, leaf function and yield traits [DOI]
  16. 16 Information and knowledge management [DOI]
  17. 17 Overview of Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor. L), its Economic Importance, Ecological Requirements and Production Constraints in Kenya [DOI]
  18. 18 Genetic improvement of mungbean
  19. 19 Farmers’ Access to Agricultural Information Sources: Evidences from Rural Pakistan [DOI]
  20. 20 Mungbean in Southeast Asia and East Africa: varieties, practices and constraints [DOI]
  21. 21 Interactive effects of irrigation and phosphorus on green gram (Vigna radiata L.)
  22. 22 Seed Systems in Kenya and Their Relationship to On-Farm Conservation of Food Crops [DOI]
  23. 23 The Effects of Combining Farm Yard Manure, Starter Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Zinc on Growth and Yield of Green Grams [DOI]
  24. 24 Land degradation evaluation in a game reserve in Eastern Cape of South Africa: soil properties and vegetation cover [DOI]
  25. 25 The effect of different nitrogen levels on seed yield and morphologicalcharacteristic of mungbean in the climate condition of Khorramabad
  26. 26 Kenya - Agricultural risk assessment
  27. 27 Formal Conditions that Affect Agricultural Credit Supply to Small-scale Farmers in Rural Kenya: Case Study for Kiambu County
  28. 28 Farmer Perception and Adaptation Strategies on Climate Change in Lower Eastern Kenya: A Case of Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn) Production [DOI]
  29. 29 Access and Use of Agricultural Information in Africa: Conceptual Review [DOI]
  30. 30 Estimation of Variability and Genetic Divergence in Greengram [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek] for Yield Characters [DOI]
  31. 31 Assessment of Yield Loss in Green Gram (Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek) Cultivation and Estimation of Weed-Free Period for Eco-Friendly Weed Management [DOI]
  32. 32 Onion (Allium cepa L.) Performance as Influenced by Manure and Fertilizer in Titanium Mined Soils [DOI]
  33. 33 Quantification of atmospheric n2 fixed by cowpea, pigeonpea and greengram grown on ferralsols in Muheza District, Tanzania
  34. 34 Yield and Economics of Greengram (Vigna radiata (L.)Wilczek) Cultivars as Influenced by Integrated Nutrient Management [DOI]
  35. 35 Characterization of Green Gram Genotypes for Qualitative Traits [DOI]
  36. 36 Principles of Weed Science [DOI]
  37. 37 Estimating Post-Harvest Food Losses: Developing a Consistent Global Estimation Framework [DOI]
  38. 38 Managing Agricultural Commercialization for Inclusive Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa [DOI]
  39. 39 Physiological and Agronomic Strategies to Increase Mungbean Yield in Climatically Variable Environments of Northern Australia [DOI]
  40. 40 Factors Determining Access to Credit Facilities for Farmers in Cherangany Constituency in Trans-Nzoia County

Cited by 30

Effect of Rainfall and Temperature Variability on Green Gram Yield in Tharaka South Sub County, Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya

Mathenge Beatrice Mugure, Gathungu Geofrey Kingori, Dennis K. Muriithi · International Journal of Environment and Climate Change · 2023

Optimizing Green Gram-Sorghum Intercropping in Dryland Kenya: The Impact of Double Row Planting on System Productivity

Bernard M. Yumbya · Asian Journal of Research in Agriculture and Forestry · 2025

Green Grams (Vigna radiata L.) Performance in Post Mined Soils When Subjected to Organic and Inorganic Fertilizers

Mercy Kiende Muchomba, Esther Mwende Muindi, Jackson Muema Mulinge · International Journal of Plant & Soil Science · 2023

Impact of botanical extracts on mungbean pest management and seed storability in the northern highlands of Tanzania

Godfrey Adolph Kessy, Angela Mkindi, Papias Binagwa · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · 2024

Showing 7 of 30 known citations — external sources report more than can currently be individually listed.

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

59

Page views

0

PDF downloads

7

Outbound clicks

30

Citations

Views over time

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.