Tag: Grasspea
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THE STIGMA OF GRASSPEA
The ancient Greeks, notably Hippocrates, were pretty wary of grasspea (Lathyrus sativa). They figured if they ate too much they’d get some neurological disorders. The stigma of grasspea still persists today in many parts of the world.Last month I joined a team from the Crop Trust‘s BOLD Project to visit researchers and farmers in India and Bangladesh to learn more about grasspea. ICARDA’s Shiv Kumar Agrawal led us on a journey to Bhopal, New Delhi, Kolkata, Gazipur, Ishurdi and Rangpur. And I had two takeaways from that journey. First … wow!…
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THE PEA OF THE CHAR
As I jumped off the horse cart and landed on the sandy soil of Charbongram, an island in the Brahmaputra River in Bangladesh, I kicked what appeared to be a weed. It was a scraggly, prostrate plant somehow surviving where no other plants could. ‘That’s grasspea,’ said ICARDA pulses breeder Shiv Agrawal proudly as if showing off his children. ‘The locals just broadcast the seed and come back 100 days or so later and harvest the pods. Absolutely no inputs.’ I looked around the char, a sand and silt island, and…
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GRASSPEA IS A GRACIOUS GIFT OF GOD GLOBALLY (5G)
As I stood in the middle of a 28-acre community managed grasspea field in West Bengal, India, I asked how the villagers divided the tasks of managing the field. There were puzzled looks on the farmers’ faces. ‘There is no labour with grasspea … only sowing. God does the rest.’ Former ICARDA pulse breed Ashuthosh Sarker told me that the proper moniker for the hardy crop is ‘Grasspea is a Gracious Gift from God Globally’. It’s not a terribly demanding crop. It’s hardy enough to withstand pretty much anything Mother Nature…
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SHUSHILA SPEAKS OUT
As our convoy of three cars arrived to Bamuliya, a village an hour out of Bhopal, we were met by a gaggle of men. They escorted us to a field neatly planted with grasspea. I asked which of the men was the farmer and then attached a microphone to his shirt. I forgot some equipment, so I hiked back to the car. As I passed the farmhouse a woman in a glowing red sari came out the door and looked to see where everyone had disappeared to. I greeted her with…
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THE FAMINE CROP
You’d be forgiven if you admitted you had never heard of grasspea. It’s really not one of the world’s leading crops. But as our climate is changing and soils degrading it could be one of the most promising. Grasspea is a nutritious crop which is heat- and drought-tolerant and often survives when other crops fail, thus gaining a reputation as a ‘famine crop’. The problem with the crop is that for many years people believed that a toxin in the plant could cause paralysis if people eat too much of it…
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