How to grow soybean in Ghana
Soybean is an excellent crop to raise on your farm Soybean is very nutritious and is a good substitute for meat. It can be made into many different types of food including milk, flour and curd. Soybean plants interact with bacteria in the soil to grow better. All bean crops do this. Soybean has very deep roots that can find water deep underground. Soybean can be sold to make money. You can save your best seed to replant the next year.
Plant soybean about as deep as the space between your finger joints You can plant a little deeper, but must plant the seed into moist soil. If the seed dries up it will not come up
Plant the rows about 2 foot steps apart In the row, plant about 8 seeds for each foot step
Soybean Growth Stages June July August September October Soybeans take about 4 months to grow Photo: http://weedsoft.unl.edu/documents/growthstagesmodule/soybean/soy.htm
If your soybeans do not get taller than your knees when they are completely grown, you may need to grow a different variety of soybean Photo: https://alxabroad.wordpress.com/2013/02/17/the-wheels-on-the-bus-head-deep-into-rural-rwanda/
Photo: https://www.pioneer.com/home/site/mobile/grow/soybeans/nodulation-factors/ There is a life form in the soil called bacteria. A certain type of bacteria lives on the roots of all bean crops to make them grow better. These bacteria can be bought to add to your seed and is called inoculant. There may also be a little bit of this bacteria already living in your soil. The dark green strips in the photo had inoculant added to the seed when it was planted. The light green strips did not have inoculant added to the seed. The dark green beans grow more and produce more. Beans can grow without inoculant but they do not grow as well.
You may be able to buy the bacteria to add to your seed. This is called inoculant. Inoculant may be brown colored or white colored. Keep it in the bag it comes in until you are ready to use it. Keep it cool and out of the sun and heat. The bacteria in the inoculant makes these white bumps on the root. It is good if your beans have lots of these. You have to mix the inoculant with your seed. Plant your seed immediately after mixing or the bacteria will die. Photo: http://www.n2africa.org/content/n2africa-nigeria-hosts-bill-gates
To make the inoculant stick to the seed you will have to add a tiny bit of a sugary drink to the seed or some sugar mixed with water. This makes the seed sticky. Add the sticky sugar water to the seed and stir Then add the inoculant to the seed Stir together the seed, sugar water and inoculant and plant immediately Photos: http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/bnf/smallscaleseedinoculation.asp
Photo: http://www.smilinggardener.com/organic-fertilizers/natural-organic-fertilizers Fertilizer also helps plants grow bigger and produce more for you to harvest. Phosphorus fertilizer is especially important for soybean.
Plants that don t have fertilizer don t grow as well and may have yellow or purple colors instead of dark green.
Managing Your Crop Fields Do not burn the dead stalks from last year s crops. Try to leave them on top of the soil like in this picture.
If you leave lots of dead stalks on top of the soil your crop will have more water because the sun doesn t dry up the soil as much. Also, weeds will not grow as well.
This soil between these soybean rows is bare so the sun will dry it out faster than if it was covered with dead stalks.
Do not grow soybean in the same field every year. Rotate it with corn, millet or sorghum.
When your soybeans look like this, they are ready to harvest
Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/usaidghana/6742322581/ This is how many people harvest soybean in Africa Photo: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/valueaddedag/content/volunteerfarmers-blog
The women s group in Bulenga, Ghana had a mechanic in Wa build this soybean thresher for a cost of 750 cedis Photos courtesy of Fahimeh Baziari, US Peace Corps, Ghana
Soybean Eat Some Sell Some Save Some
Soybean is very nutritious You can make soy milk or soy flour with the dry soy beans.
Make soy kebabs or soy patties http://zibakitchen.com/soya-seekh-kabab/ Wet the seed to make edible sprouts, or boil the green pods in salt water and eat. http://www.scienceinafrica.com/old/2 001/may/tofu.htm http://kaleidoscope.culturalchina.com/en/8k2914k11339.html http://www.realsimple.com/health/nutritiondiet/healthy-eating/the-30-healthiestfoods/edamame
Sell some of your soybean crop to make money
Save some of your best seed to replant next year. Save seeds in good, waterproof bags. Photo: http://www.storezo.net/soybean-packaging/
Save your best seed that is clean and healthy, like in these photos
The seed in these photos is not healthy and will not grow well. Do not save seed like this to replant. Keep only the best seed for replanting.
The hot sun will make your seed die. Store seed for replanting in a cool, dry place out of the sun
The house with the grass roof will stay cooler for seed storage than the house with the metal roof If you store seed under a grass roof, make sure it does not leak rainwater
Growing soybeans can help make you and your family healthier and happier Photo: http://dialogues.cgiar.org/blog/partnershipugandas-fledgling-soybean-industry/