Our forum is well known for innovations and this year we brought you the submarine locator innovation after the unfortunate disappearance of the Titan Submarine. The ‘invention’ attracted a lot of interest across the globe and it’s our hope it will contribute to the field of science and researches. https://zbinworld.com/zimbabwean-invention-submarine-chute/
Our biggest innovation to date however has to be Tapestry (Rugmaking) which saw us going viral across SADC in 2017 and getting an honour from the Zulu King in KwaZulu Natal. On agriculture we helped to introduce and promote hybrid Paw Paws or Papaya.
In 2022 we championed cruise ship jobs access by Zimbabweans with more than 5000 benefiting.And this includes a chartered plane ferrying successful candidates from Harare to Hawaii free of charge. So what is in store in 2024? We have started a new initiative of Madagascan Lima Beans.
The author bumped into what seemed like wild beans in his back yard and weeded out a lot of them but 2 survived and managed to grow at an exponential pace with the first plant producing more than 4000 bean seeds. I had serious reservations whether the beans were edible given the fast and furious growth rate and took to social media to inquire about the weird beans.
Zbinite Pepukai Chato carried out a research and finally got to the bottom of it—Its’ Madagascan Lima Beans!
And this is what he has to say;
That is actually a be-speckled lima bean from Madagascar. It grows for 7years.One plant can feed a whole family. I researched it because to me it was out of this world.
I later on had the beans cooked and really regretted why I had not paid serious attention to the tasty beans. Very fast to cook and therefore takes less energy. Zimbabwe needs more of Madagascan beans for food security as we face drought. The biggest advantage is that it does not need constant watering and can technically grow in the wild.
Official Definition: A vigorous climbing bean that has attractive white and purple speckled seeds if left to dry out on the vine, otherwise they can be eaten raw while still white.
On Australian websites such as www.boondieseeds.com.au/and https://www.localseeds.com.au/they are sold for US$1 for an average of 6-8 bean seeds.
According to forum discussions, a few people have the beans although grown mostly as a backyard plant. It has little maintenance costs as it grows like a wild plant with added benefits of continuous growth and harvesting up to 3-7 years.
So 30 Subscribed Zbinites will take part in trials this coming season with a target of producing 50,000 seeds by April 2024. Full commercial scale farming expected to commence in the second half of 2024.
So expect a lot of noise around Madagascan Lima Beans in Harare towards end of next year going into the 2025 Agricultural Season.
