Vigorous establishment of pulse crops increases pest and disease resistance, drought tolerance, N fixation and nutrient accumulation. Promoting early plant vigor and growth encourages more extensive and deeper root systems that are more effective at acquiring water and nutrients and that tolerate damage from soil-borne pathogens and pests. Improving the food production and income-generating opportunities of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), and the indigenous, soil-improving pulses, lablab (L. purpureus) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), will be emphasized. The project has both research and development components, both of which use participatory approaches to facilitate farmers' assessment and adaptation of a suite of practices to promote early plant vigor and growth.
Engaging farmers to explicitly test management practices for overcoming the abiotic and biotic constraints inhibiting pulse productivity builds farmers' capacity to adapt to dynamically changing conditions. It also facilitates community-wide dissemination of information about those strategies that have dramatic positive effects on system productivity. The research component aims to deepen scientific understanding of soil biotic and abiotic factor interactions across a soil degradation gradient, while providing research opportunities for national agricultural scientists and host country postgraduate students.
