Plant · P-241

Urad Bean

Vigna mungo

Urad bean, or black gram, is the pulse behind South Asian dal and the fermented batter used for idli and dosa - the young pods cook as a vegetable too, and the seed grinds into flour that enriches bread. It fixes nitrogen through root nodules, and intercropping it with a cereal has raised the combined yield by over 40 percent, which is the same alley-cropping pattern useful in a mixed planting. It doubles as a deliberate forage and hay crop, with straw alone able to carry over half a sheep's ration, though raw seed needs heat treatment before it goes to pigs or poultry. The one real timing trick: rain during flowering cuts seed yield, so it does best sown so flowering lands in a dry midsummer window rather than a wet spring.