LEGUMES: BEANS, PEAS AND THEIR HISTORY AND PRODUCERS

LEGUMES

bean plant The family of plants called legumes includes food plants such as beans, peas, chick peas, soybeans, lentils, peanuts; forage plants such as alfalfa and clover; vine kudzu; and wild flowers, weeds and ornamental plants and trees such as wisteria, tamarind, acacia, senna, indigo, locoweed and licorice. Some members of the family have tendrils by which they can climb like vines. Legumes are also called pulses.

Lentils and peas were among the first foods to be cultivated. There is evidence that were first cultivated around 11,000 years ago.

Legume seeds contain higher concentrations of protein than those found in other plants. One hundred grams of beans, holds between 20 and 40 grams of protein, compared of nine for barely, 10 for wheat, eight for brown rice and three for corn. Legumes are popular among vegetarians because they are one of the few plant foods that are rich in the kinds of proteins found in meat.

See Separate Article SOYBEANS, SOY SAUCE AND TOFU factsanddetails.com

Beans

Beans and peas are pod-bearing plants that belong to the legume family. Bean pods range from two to eight inches long. They develop from butterfly-shaped flowers. The food that people are the seeds. The majority of the 20,000 species of legume are poisonous.

Beans are among the world's earliest cultivated crops along with wheat, barley, grapes, and melons. Broad beans have been known in Europe for a long time. They were first domesticated in the Mediterranean or western Asia. Remains of them dating to 6000 to 7000 B.C. have been found at sites in Israel. By 3000 B.C. they were grown widely across central Europe and northern Africa and have been found with mummies in ancient Egyptian coffins.

bean plants There are many kinds of beans. Winged beans are popular in the Philippines and have been eaten by rain forest tribes in New Guinea for centuries. They are regarded as nutritious as sou beans and are produced in 50 countries. . Black-eyed peas are originally from Africa. Many of the ones we are familiar with today originated in the New World and were introduced to Europeans in Mexico and Peru. Lima beans for example are native to South American and were brought to Europe by the Spanish.

Broad beans come from rough plants with thick stems and large leaves with egg-shaped leaflets and two distinctive stripes at their base. They produce flowers that range in color from white to light purple with dark blue lines on the part of the flower that sticks up the back and a dark blue or black patch on the wings. The pods are large and have an irregular, knobby shape.

Beans are widely consumed by vegetarian because of they are rich in the kinds of proteins found in meat. Broad beans contain up to 25 percent protein as opposed to only 1.5 percent fat. They also contain large amounts of carbohydrates and some Vitamin C. In some people they cause the breakdown of red blood cells. The condition, known as fauvism, occurs in people that lack an essential enzyme.

In many places broad beans can be planted in the autumn, left in the fields over the winter and harvested in spring. Where frost is a danger they are protected by plants such as leafy bamboo that are stuck in the ground alongside the rows. The plants begin growing quicky when the weather warms up and are ready to harvest in May. In many places they have traditionally served as a hedge in case their was problem growing the summer crops.

Beans Domesticated 23,000 and 10,000- Years Ago

The technique of dating starch granules found in cracks in rocks used to grind up plant material have has been used to find the earliest known use of several foods, including beans from China dated to between 19,500 and 23,000 years ago. [Source: Ian Johnston, The Independent, July 3, 2017]

Scientists have found 14,000-year-old fava seeds which they say contains clues to the timing of the plants’ domestication. According to the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel: “Like all food crops, the faba, or fava, bean — a nutritious part of many the diet of many cultures diets — had a wild ancestor. Wild faba is presumed to be extinct, but Weizmann Institute of Science researchers have now identified 14,000-year-old remains of seeds that offer important clues as to the time and place that this plant grew naturally. Understanding the ecology of the wild plants’ environment and the evolution they underwent in the course of domestication is crucial to improving the biodiversity of the modern crop. The findings were reported in Scientific Reports. [Source: Weizmann Institute of Science, July 12, 2016]

Dr. Elisabetta Boaretto, head of the “Timing of Cultural Changes” track of the Max Planck-Weizmann Center for Integrative Archaeology and Anthropology, and Dr. Valentina Caracuta, a former postdoctoral fellow in Boaretto’s group who is currently a researcher at the University of Salento-Italy, had previously shown that the 10,200-year-old faba beans discovered in three archaeological sites in Lower Galilee were the earliest faba bean ever domesticated.

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The new finding — faba seeds from an archaeological site, el-Wad, on Mount Carmel in Northern Israel — came from the earliest levels of an excavation that had been carried out by Profs. Mina Evron and Daniel Kaufman, and Dr. Reuven Yeshurun, all of Haifa University. The people living at that time, the Natufians, were hunter-gathers, and thus the plants there were growing wild. Boaretto and Caracuta performed radiocarbon dating and micro X-ray CT analysis on the preserved pieces of bean to pinpoint their age and identify them as the ancestors of the modern fava bean.

“Sometime between 11,000 and 14,000 years ago, people in this region domesticated faba — around the same time that others farther north were domesticating wheat and barley,” says Boaretto. Faba, a nutritious legume, is eaten around the world; in some places it is used for animal feed; and it fixes nitrogen in the soil. “Understanding how this plant was adapted to the habitat of the Carmel 14,000 years ago can help us understand how to create new modern varieties that will better be able to withstand pests and tolerate environmental stress,” she says.

The multitude of fava seeds found at the Neolithic sites excavated in the Galilee and dated to between 9,890-10,160 years ago. These well-preserved seeds were found in excavations, inside storage pits (granaries) after they had been husked. The seeds’ dimensions are a uniform size-a datum showing they were methodically cultivated, and were harvested at the same period of time, when the legumes had ripened. According to the researchers, keeping the seeds in storage pits is also reflective of long-term agricultural planning, whereby the stored seeds were intended not only for food, but also to ensure future crops in the coming years. [Source: Israeli government, mfa.gov.il, November 23, 2015]

The researchers said: “The identification of the places where plant species that are today an integral part of our diet were first domesticated is of great significance to research. Despite the importance of cereals in nutrition that continues to this day, it seems that in the region we examined (west of the Jordan River), it was the legumes, full of flavor and protein, which were actually the first species to be domesticated. A phenomenon known as the agricultural revolution took place throughout the region at this time: different species of animals and plants were domesticated across the Levant, and it is now clear that the area that is today the Galilee was the main producer of legumes in prehistoric times. This is a process that lasted thousands of years, during which certain characteristics of wild species changed, and domesticated plant species were created. To this day, most of the chickpeas grown in the country are cultivated in the Galilee region.”

Legumes and Agriculture

Their roots of legumes shelter a special nitrogen-fixing bacteria that converts nitrogen into nitrogen compounds that provide food for plants. For this reason, farmers often grow legumes with other crops so the legumes can provide nitrogen compounds for the other crops.

Soy beans, alfalfa and sweet clover. For example, are often planted in a rotation with food crops such as corn to provide nitrogen for them. Alfalfa and clover are water thirsty crops that are widely grown as feed for livestock. Nitrogen is also passed on to the legume plants which at least partly explains why legume seeds have high concentrations of protein, which also needs nitrogen

Biotechnology has produced soy beans immune to weed killers and soy beans that are missing the genetic material that causes allergic reactions.

Lentils

Lentils, botanically-known as Lens culinaris esculenta, have been a source of sustenance for our ancestors since prehistoric times. Lentil artifacts have been found on archeological digs dating back 8,000 years. The Bible's book of Genesis tells the story of Esau, who gave up his birthright for a bowl of crimson lentils and a loaf of bread. [Source: thespruceeats.com]

Lentils are the oldest pulse crop known, and among the earliest crops domesticated in the Old World, having been found as carbonized remains alongside human habitations dating to 11,000 BCE in Greece. The origins of lentils are in the Near East and Central Asia. [Source: Wikipedia, “Lentil: An Ancient Crop for Modern Times” by Shyam S. Yadav, David McNeil and Philip C. Stevenson (Editors) (2007). Berlin: Springer Science & Business Media.]

According to Purdue University: “Lentils probably originated in the Near East and rapidly spread to Egypt, central and southern Europe, the Mediterranean basin, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, India and Pakistan, China and later to the New World including Latin America (Cubero, 1981; Duke, 1981; Ladizinsky, 1979). It is probably the oldest of grain legumes to be domesticated (Bahl et al., 1993).”

Lentil Plant Sprouts from 4,000-Year-Old Seed

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A 4,000-year-old lentil seed unearthed in an archeological excavation has successfully sprouted after being planted. The Hurriyet Daily News reported: Project leader and Dumlupinar University archeology faculty Professor Nejat Bilgen said they found the seeds during an excavation undertaken last year in Kütahya province. Bilgen said a layer from the container in which they found the seeds was determined to be from the Middle Bronze Age. [Source: hurriyetdailynews.com, December 16, 2009 ==]

“He said his team found many seeds, but most had been burnt, adding that they had failed to make the others turn green before the recent success. The excavation team believes they found a silo because there were many other containers around. “A seed dug from underground and dating back approximately 4,000 years sprouted. The plant that came out of this seed is under examination and will be presented to the scientific community [so they can] make various analyses over it,” Bilgen said. ==

“Nükhet Bingöl, an assistant professor from the same department, said she planted one of the seeds last year but that it dried up after germinating, adding that she sent another to Istanbul for fat analyses. Bingöl said she planted the present seed three months ago before it successfully germinated. “Scientifically, we are still at the beginning,” said Bingöl, who explained that the age of the seed needs to be determined and compared to the lentils of today. Although [the seed] was found in an archeological excavation, we should prove it scientifically. We should look into whether those seeds came from outside [the container] or not,” she said. ==

“Bingöl said the lentil is pretty weak – unlike its modern day versions – yet they hope it will be able to flower and produce seeds. If that happens, according to Bingöl, they would have extremely important data to compare with the organic and genetically engineered plants of today. “It would be the first seed from very old times whose genetics were never modified.” ==

Bingöl said the lentil is a plant that does not require much water and heat to grow, so it is very likely that they were planted near the excavation area. “Barley, lentil, wheat, all of these originated in Anatolia,” said Bingöl. “That is why finding this seed was not a surprise for us but finding it alive was. This is caused by the structure of the [container’s] mold. A fire broke the mold, it collapsed and so [some] of the seeds were able to stay alive,” she said.” ==

World’s Top Lentil Producing Countries and Importing Countries

World’s Top Producers of Lentils (2020): 1) Canada: 2867800 tonnes; 2) India: 1180000 tonnes; 3) Australia: 525848 tonnes; 4) Turkey: 370815 tonnes; 5) United States: 336160 tonnes; 6) Nepal: 262835 tonnes; 7) Syria: 200218 tonnes; 8) Bangladesh: 177354 tonnes; 9) China: 164381 tonnes; 10) Russia: 115556 tonnes; 11) Ethiopia: 113018 tonnes; 12) Iran: 69780 tonnes; 13) Kazakhstan: 51069 tonnes; 14) Argentina: 34476 tonnes; 15) Algeria: 12112 tonnes; 16) Mexico: 10090 tonnes; 17) Morocco: 9044 tonnes; 18) Yemen: 7237 tonnes; 19) Pakistan: 4861 tonnes; 20) Ukraine: 3160 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

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World’s Top Producers (in terms of value) of Lentils (2019): 1) Canada: Int.$1480267,000 ; 2) India: Int.$838756,000 ; 3) Australia: Int.$364622,000 ; 4) Turkey: Int.$241575,000 ; 5) Nepal: Int.$171591,000 ; 6) United States: Int.$166956,000 ; 7) Bangladesh: Int.$119809,000 ; 8) China: Int.$112196,000 ; 9) Ethiopia: Int.$81517,000 ; 10) Russia: Int.$79665,000 ; 11) Syria: Int.$68759,000 ; 12) Kazakhstan: Int.$51498,000 ; 13) Iran: Int.$48271,000 ; 14) Morocco: Int.$25341,000 ; 15) Algeria: Int.$18119,000 ; 16) Argentina: Int.$11134,000 ; 17) Mexico: Int.$6469,000 ; 18) Ukraine: Int.$5492,000 ; 19) Yemen: Int.$4860,000 ; [An international dollar (Int.$) buys a comparable amount of goods in the cited country that a U.S. dollar would buy in the United States.]

World’s Top Importers of Lentils (2019): 1) India: 822398 tonnes; 2) Bangladesh: 483240 tonnes; 3) Turkey: 401168 tonnes; 4) United Arab Emirates: 268139 tonnes; 5) Sri Lanka: 167810 tonnes; 6) Venezuela: 125698 tonnes; 7) Pakistan: 123735 tonnes; 8) Iraq: 100060 tonnes; 9) Colombia: 86475 tonnes; 10) Canada: 83155 tonnes; 11) Sudan: 79353 tonnes; 12) Algeria: 75440 tonnes; 13) United States: 68285 tonnes; 14) Iran: 66782 tonnes; 15) Syria: 58276 tonnes; 16) Saudi Arabia: 56498 tonnes; 17) Peru: 55631 tonnes; 18) Mexico: 54692 tonnes; 19) Nepal: 49503 tonnes; 20) Spain: 48753 tonnes

World’s Top Importers (in value terms) of Lentils (2019): 1) India: US$346343,000; 2) Bangladesh: US$215579,000; 3) Turkey: US$156993,000; 4) Venezuela: US$151914,000; 5) United Arab Emirates: US$114192,000; 6) Sri Lanka: US$77205,000; 7) Iraq: US$68689,000; 8) Pakistan: US$55081,000; 9) Egypt: US$54967,000; 10) Sudan: US$50484,000; 11) Colombia: US$45451,000; 12) United States: US$45165,000; 13) Algeria: US$43323,000; 14) Spain: US$35270,000; 15) Iran: US$35246,000; 16) Saudi Arabia: US$32766,000; 17) Canada: US$32164,000; 18) Syria: US$30969,000; 19) Germany: US$29806,000; 20) Somalia: US$29704,000

Chickpeas and Cowpeas

Chickpeas are a legume that has been cultivated since biblical times. Also known as Garbanzo beans, they originated in the Fertile Crescent and are an important food in the Middle East, where they are made into humus and falafels. They are also the source of gram flour, which is widely used in South Asia to make bread.

Chickpeas are seeds. They may be eaten whole or ground into gram flour. The green pods and tender young shoots of the plants that produce chickpeas can be eaten like a vegetable. In the Mediterranean area people like to eat chick peas cold, marinated with oil and vinegar.

Cowpeas are a grain legume grown in savannah regions of the tropic and subtropics. The majority of it is grown in West and Central Africa.

World’s Top Chick Pea Producing and Exporting Countries

World’s Top Producers of Chick Peas (2020): 1) India: 11080000 tonnes; 2) Turkey: 630000 tonnes; 3) Pakistan: 497608 tonnes; 4) Myanmar: 481668 tonnes; 5) Ethiopia: 457319 tonnes; 6) Russia: 291133 tonnes; 7) Australia: 281200 tonnes; 8) Iran: 226595 tonnes; 9) Canada: 214400 tonnes; 10) United States: 193820 tonnes; 11) Argentina: 177061 tonnes; 12) Mexico: 125823 tonnes; 13) Sudan: 84395 tonnes; 14) Syria: 63589 tonnes; 15) Morocco: 49714 tonnes; 16) Tanzania: 47058 tonnes; 17) Yemen: 41551 tonnes; 18) Algeria: 39889 tonnes; 19) China: 16368 tonnes; 20) Uzbekistan: 11891 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

Beans in a market in India World’s Top Producers (in terms of value) of Chick Peas (2019): 1) India: Int.$6924410,000 ; 2) Turkey: Int.$438960,000 ; 3) Russia: Int.$352677,000 ; 4) Myanmar: Int.$347989,000 ; 5) Pakistan: Int.$311163,000 ; 6) Ethiopia: Int.$303226,000 ; 7) United States: Int.$197121,000 ; 8) Australia: Int.$195929,000 ; 9) Canada: Int.$175236,000 ; 10) Mexico: Int.$141335,000 ; 11) Iran: Int.$139825,000 ; 12) Argentina: Int.$95626,000 ; 13) Morocco: Int.$52545,000 ; 14) Sudan: Int.$51133,000 ; 15) Syria: Int.$36524,000 ; 16) Tanzania: Int.$29372,000 ; 17) Algeria: Int.$28128,000 ; 18) Yemen: Int.$26854,000 ; 19) China: Int.$10874,000 ; [An international dollar (Int.$) buys a comparable amount of goods in the cited country that a U.S. dollar would buy in the United States.]

World’s Top Exporters of Chick Peas (2020): 1) Australia: 423755 tonnes; 2) Russia: 310070 tonnes; 3) Turkey: 241261 tonnes; 4) India: 174207 tonnes; 5) United States: 156558 tonnes; 6) Argentina: 128981 tonnes; 7) Tanzania: 118355 tonnes; 8) Canada: 111688 tonnes; 9) Mexico: 101767 tonnes; 10) United Arab Emirates: 55105 tonnes; 11) Ukraine: 39623 tonnes; 12) Sudan: 29535 tonnes; 13) Myanmar: 23351 tonnes; 14) Ethiopia: 17304 tonnes; 15) France: 17199 tonnes; 16) Bulgaria: 10906 tonnes; 17) Kyrgyzstan: 7762 tonnes; 18) Uzbekistan: 7471 tonnes; 19) Syria: 7424 tonnes; 20) Egypt: 5964 tonnes

World’s Top Exporters (in value terms) of Chick Peas (2020): 1) Australia: US$223879,000; 2) Turkey: US$148848,000; 3) India: US$140663,000; 4) Russia: US$116252,000; 5) United States: US$105910,000; 6) Mexico: US$105819,000; 7) Tanzania: US$67485,000; 8) Argentina: US$65780,000; 9) Canada: US$65427,000; 10) United Arab Emirates: US$43476,000; 11) Sudan: US$16534,000; 12) Ukraine: US$15231,000; 13) Myanmar: US$13681,000; 14) Ethiopia: US$13644,000; 15) France: US$12147,000; 16) Germany: US$6261,000; 17) Italy: US$5896,000; 18) Belgium: US$5830,000; 19) Spain: US$5808,000; 20) Syria: US$5635,000

World’s Top Chick Pea Importing Countries

World’s Top Importers of Chick Peas (2020): 1) India: 305841 tonnes; 2) Pakistan: 212992 tonnes; 3) Bangladesh: 197645 tonnes; 4) Turkey: 123271 tonnes; 5) United Arab Emirates: 94146 tonnes; 6) Iraq: 64808 tonnes; 7) Algeria: 64729 tonnes; 8) United Kingdom: 64590 tonnes; 9) United States: 59708 tonnes; 10) Saudi Arabia: 56624 tonnes; 11) Spain: 53105 tonnes; 12) Nepal: 51052 tonnes; 13) Italy: 47699 tonnes; 14) Canada: 43849 tonnes; 15) Chile: 33694 tonnes; 16) Syria: 33477 tonnes; 17) Jordan: 30740 tonnes; 18) Sri Lanka: 29915 tonnes; 19) Iran: 22031 tonnes; 20) Lebanon: 21083 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

World’s Top Importers (in value terms) of Chick Peas (2020): 1) India: US$162239,000; 2) Bangladesh: US$107962,000; 3) Pakistan: US$100939,000; 4) Turkey: US$91704,000; 5) Algeria: US$64150,000; 6) United Arab Emirates: US$61696,000; 7) Iraq: US$54836,000; 8) United Kingdom: US$50086,000; 9) United States: US$47085,000; 10) Spain: US$45400,000; 11) Saudi Arabia: US$40233,000; 12) Nepal: US$32241,000; 13) Italy: US$32006,000; 14) Canada: US$24630,000; 15) Sri Lanka: US$24522,000; 16) Chile: US$22267,000; 17) Syria: US$19976,000; 18) Germany: US$19599,000; 19) Jordan: US$18174,000; 20) Egypt: US$15897,000

World’s Top Dry Bean Producing and Exporting Countries

World’s Top Producers of Dry Beans (2020): 1) India: 5460000 tonnes; 2) Myanmar: 3053012 tonnes; 3) Brazil: 3035290 tonnes; 4) United States: 1495180 tonnes; 5) China: 1281586 tonnes; 6) Tanzania: 1267684 tonnes; 7) Mexico: 1056071 tonnes; 8) Kenya: 774366 tonnes; 9) Argentina: 633823 tonnes; 10) Uganda: 608980 tonnes; 11) Ethiopia: 552564 tonnes; 12) Canada: 490000 tonnes; 13) Burundi: 461198 tonnes; 14) Rwanda: 438736 tonnes; 15) Cameroon: 422171 tonnes; 16) Mozambique: 393133 tonnes; 17) Angola: 372591 tonnes; 18) North Korea: 324107 tonnes; 19) Turkey: 279518 tonnes; 20) Guatemala: 269221 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

World’s Top Producers (in terms of value) of Dry Beans (2019): 1) Myanmar: US$4456527,000 ; 2) India: US$4047493,000 ; 3) Brazil: US$2215456,000 ; 4) China: US$989286,000 ; 5) Tanzania: US$912774,000 ; 6) Uganda: US$746834,000 ; 7) United States: US$710575,000 ; 8) Mexico: US$670317,000 ; 9) Kenya: US$569393,000 ; 10) Burundi: US$471941,000 ; 11) Argentina: US$441118,000 ; 12) Ethiopia: US$370103,000 ; 13) Rwanda: US$369115,000 ; 14) Cameroon: US$315356,000 ; 15) Angola: US$272606,000 ; 16) North Korea: US$249829,000 ; 17) Canada: US$241478,000 ; 18) Guatemala: US$200798,000 ; 19) Democratic Republic of the Congo: US$198214,000 ; [An international dollar (Int.$) buys a comparable amount of goods in the cited country that a U.S. dollar would buy in the United States.]

World’s Top Exporters of Dry Beans (2020): 1) Myanmar: 1181771 tonnes; 2) United States: 444692 tonnes; 3) Argentina: 423067 tonnes; 4) Canada: 382373 tonnes; 5) China: 303173 tonnes; 6) Ethiopia: 175081 tonnes; 7) Uzbekistan: 169072 tonnes; 8) Brazil: 142661 tonnes; 9) Egypt: 132024 tonnes; 10) Kyrgyzstan: 99380 tonnes; 11) Nicaragua: 96943 tonnes; 12) Turkey: 96200 tonnes; 13) Tanzania: 73796 tonnes; 14) Uganda: 72568 tonnes; 15) Australia: 62234 tonnes; 16) Afghanistan: 53995 tonnes; 17) Indonesia: 48655 tonnes; 18) Mexico: 48059 tonnes; 19) India: 44037 tonnes; 20) United Kingdom: 41986 tonnes

World’s Top Exporters (in value terms) of Dry Beans (2020): 1) Myanmar: US$1052555,000; 2) China: US$425380,000; 3) United States: US$413191,000; 4) Canada: US$375082,000; 5) Argentina: US$365613,000; 6) Uzbekistan: US$188006,000; 7) Ethiopia: US$127157,000; 8) Brazil: US$123049,000; 9) Egypt: US$115130,000; 10) Nicaragua: US$114015,000; 11) Turkey: US$111880,000; 12) Mexico: US$66152,000; 13) Australia: US$63624,000; 14) Netherlands: US$56507,000; 15) India: US$53443,000; 16) Kyrgyzstan: US$52242,000; 17) Indonesia: US$51702,000; 18) Tanzania: US$40814,000; 19) United Arab Emirates: US$37086,000; 20) Uganda: US$36604,000

World’s Top Green Bean Producing and Exporting Countries

World’s Top Producers of Green Beans (2020): 1) China: 17964222 tonnes; 2) Indonesia: 889495 tonnes; 3) India: 643820 tonnes; 4) Turkey: 547349 tonnes; 5) France: 394410 tonnes; 6) Thailand: 299907 tonnes; 7) Egypt: 264959 tonnes; 8) Morocco: 232078 tonnes; 9) Bangladesh: 198145 tonnes; 10) Sri Lanka: 179254 tonnes; 11) Italy: 162220 tonnes; 12) Spain: 148020 tonnes; 13) Mexico: 101956 tonnes; 14) Algeria: 100308 tonnes; 15) Belgium: 73000 tonnes; 16) Iran: 71769 tonnes; 17) Canada: 51281 tonnes; 18) Poland: 49800 tonnes; 19) Netherlands: 48840 tonnes; 20) Chile: 45603 tonnes. [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

country bean World’s Top Producers (in terms of value) of Green Beans (2019): 1) China: Int.$6884056,000 ; 2) Indonesia: Int.$300168,000 ; 3) India: Int.$229805,000 ; 4) Turkey: Int.$188680,000 ; 5) France: Int.$106974,000 ; 6) Thailand: Int.$91893,000 ; 7) Egypt: Int.$91362,000 ; 8) Morocco: Int.$66662,000 ; 9) Italy: Int.$48870,000 ; 10) Bangladesh: Int.$45597,000 ; 11) Spain: Int.$45357,000 ; 12) Belgium: Int.$30182,000 ; 13) Algeria: Int.$30078,000 ; 14) Mexico: Int.$25690,000 ; 15) Iran: Int.$21427,000 ; 16) Canada: Int.$21325,000 ; 17) Sri Lanka: Int.$20717,000 ; 18) Netherlands: Int.$15558,000 ; 19) Poland: Int.$14371,000 ; [An international dollar (Int.$) buys a comparable amount of goods in the cited country that a U.S. dollar would buy in the United States.]

World’s Top Exporters of Green Beans (2020): 1) Morocco: 138310 tonnes; 2) France: 112980 tonnes; 3) China: 83780 tonnes; 4) Mexico: 50738 tonnes; 5) Netherlands: 35026 tonnes; 6) Guatemala: 34966 tonnes; 7) United States: 33331 tonnes; 8) Egypt: 25537 tonnes; 9) Spain: 24542 tonnes; 10) Germany: 19297 tonnes; 11) Senegal: 19070 tonnes; 12) Kenya: 14430 tonnes; 13) Uganda: 12536 tonnes; 14) Belgium: 9519 tonnes; 15) Malaysia: 8699 tonnes; 16) Canada: 4571 tonnes; 17) Poland: 4425 tonnes; 18) Peru: 4388 tonnes; 19) Dominican Republic: 2413 tonnes; 20) Ethiopia: 1937 tonnes

World’s Top Exporters (in value terms) of Green Beans (2020): 1) Morocco: US$240882,000; 2) China: US$117310,000; 3) Netherlands: US$104220,000; 4) Guatemala: US$81329,000; 5) United States: US$72493,000; 6) Mexico: US$70026,000; 7) France: US$66480,000; 8) Spain: US$59860,000; 9) Kenya: US$35803,000; 10) Egypt: US$30008,000; 11) Senegal: US$28910,000; 12) Belgium: US$24028,000; 13) Germany: US$19994,000; 14) Poland: US$7257,000; 15) Malaysia: US$7189,000; 16) Canada: US$4915,000; 17) Ethiopia: US$4702,000; 18) Australia: US$4358,000; 19) Italy: US$4317,000; 20) Uganda: US$3382,000

World’s Top String Bean Producing Countries

World’s Top Producers of String Beans (2020): 1) United States: 750319 tonnes; 2) Mexico: 121299 tonnes; 3) Philippines: 109516 tonnes; 4) Morocco: 109433 tonnes; 5) Turkey: 88107 tonnes; 6) Argentina: 50008 tonnes; 7) Iraq: 46210 tonnes; 8) Japan: 36070 tonnes; 9) Peru: 26921 tonnes; 10) Malawi: 21020 tonnes; 11) Taiwan: 10102 tonnes; 12) Jordan: 7000 tonnes; 13) Jamaica: 5425 tonnes; 14) Cote d’Ivoire: 4889 tonnes; 15) Venezuela: 1473 tonnes; 16) Egypt: 310 tonnes; 17) Barbados: 284 tonnes; 18) French Polynesia: 175 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

World’s Top Producers (in terms of value) of String Beans (2019): 1) United States: Int.$967064,000 ; 2) Mexico: Int.$169483,000 ; 3) Morocco: Int.$154427,000 ; 4) Philippines: Int.$144620,000 ; 5) Turkey: Int.$115710,000 ; 6) Argentina: Int.$63851,000 ; 7) Japan: Int.$45264,000 ; 8) Malawi: Int.$43622,000 ; 9) Peru: Int.$35016,000 ; 10) Taiwan: Int.$12864,000 ; 11) Jordan: Int.$9047,000 ; 12) Jamaica: Int.$7929,000 ; 13) Venezuela: Int.$7018,000 ; 14) Cote d’Ivoire: Int.$6137,000 ; 15) Iraq: Int.$3783,000 ; 16) Egypt: Int.$413,000 ; 17) Barbados: Int.$393,000 ; [An international dollar (Int.$) buys a comparable amount of goods in the cited country that a U.S. dollar would buy in the United States.]

World’s Top Broad Bean and Horse Bean Exporting Countries

The broad bean, also known as the fava bean, is produced by a vetch, a flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. Varieties with smaller, harder seeds that are fed to horses or other animals are called field beans or tick beans. The horse bean is a kind of broad-bean-like legume common in cuisines of Southern and Northern Europe, East Asia, Latin America and North Africa.

World’s Top Exporters of Dry Broad Beans and Horse Beans (2020): 1) Australia: 427017 tonnes; 2) United Kingdom: 139405 tonnes; 3) Lithuania: 136443 tonnes; 4) Latvia: 100452 tonnes; 5) Egypt: 61388 tonnes; 6) Germany: 54677 tonnes; 7) Denmark: 43500 tonnes; 8) France: 41270 tonnes; 9) Canada: 27810 tonnes; 10) Estonia: 22389 tonnes; 11) Poland: 19858 tonnes; 12) Ethiopia: 12639 tonnes; 13) Zambia: 11138 tonnes; 14) China: 8765 tonnes; 15) Belgium: 7338 tonnes; 16) Syria: 4478 tonnes; 17) Spain: 4339 tonnes; 18) Ukraine: 3940 tonnes; 19) Peru: 3797 tonnes; 20) Netherlands: 2959 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

World’s Top Exporters (in value terms) of Dry Broad Beans and Horse Beans (2020): 1) Australia: US$203812,000; 2) United Kingdom: US$53284,000; 3) Lithuania: US$42063,000; 4) Latvia: US$32892,000; 5) Germany: US$22217,000; 6) Denmark: US$20130,000; 7) France: US$14218,000; 8) Egypt: US$13879,000; 9) Canada: US$11693,000; 10) China: US$9636,000; 11) Poland: US$7464,000; 12) Peru: US$6608,000; 13) Estonia: US$6290,000; 14) Spain: US$4044,000; 15) Ethiopia: US$3954,000; 16) Belgium: US$3137,000; 17) Netherlands: US$2960,000; 18) Turkey: US$2768,000; 19) United Arab Emirates: US$2249,000; 20) Syria: 2157,000

World’s Top Green Pea Producing and Exporting Countries

World’s Top Producers of Green Peas (2020): 1) China: 11250366 tonnes; 2) India: 5703000 tonnes; 3) United States: 279336 tonnes; 4) France: 265420 tonnes; 5) Pakistan: 218638 tonnes; 6) Algeria: 209409 tonnes; 7) United Kingdom: 159022 tonnes; 8) Egypt: 153233 tonnes; 9) Peru: 135106 tonnes; 10) Spain: 120480 tonnes; 11) Russia: 116116 tonnes; 12) Turkey: 108492 tonnes; 13) Morocco: 96860 tonnes; 14) Hungary: 90020 tonnes; 15) Italy: 80410 tonnes; 16) Kenya: 74946 tonnes; 17) Belgium: 70600 tonnes; 18) Mexico: 70059 tonnes; 19) Tunisia: 53747 tonnes; 20) Canada: 50169 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

World’s Top Producers (in terms of value) of Green Peas (2019): 1) China: Int.$8163864,000 ; 2) India: Int.$3389756,000 ; 3) France: Int.$171980,000 ; 4) United States: Int.$139260,000 ; 5) Algeria: Int.$121905,000 ; 6) Egypt: Int.$107090,000 ; 7) Pakistan: Int.$104527,000 ; 8) United Kingdom: Int.$93316,000 ; 9) Peru: Int.$78740,000 ; 10) Spain: Int.$77388,000 ; 11) Morocco: Int.$65247,000 ; 12) Turkey: Int.$59848,000 ; 13) Belgium: Int.$54192,000 ; 14) Hungary: Int.$53638,000 ; 15) Russia: Int.$52778,000 ; 16) Italy: Int.$48543,000 ; 17) Kenya: Int.$44562,000 ; 18) Tunisia: Int.$37048,000 ; 19) Mexico: Int.$36867,000 ; [An international dollar (Int.$) buys a comparable amount of goods in the cited country that a U.S. dollar would buy in the United States.]

World’s Top Exporters of Green Peas (2020): 1) France: 64773 tonnes; 2) Guatemala: 33779 tonnes; 3) Netherlands: 18607 tonnes; 4) Ukraine: 17757 tonnes; 5) China: 17459 tonnes; 6) Germany: 16909 tonnes; 7) Mexico: 15763 tonnes; 8) Romania: 14622 tonnes; 9) United States: 13528 tonnes; 10) Poland: 9340 tonnes; 11) Peru: 8964 tonnes; 12) Bulgaria: 5589 tonnes; 13) Slovakia: 5208 tonnes; 14) Egypt: 5105 tonnes; 15) Belgium: 4887 tonnes; 16) Kenya: 4205 tonnes; 17) Zimbabwe: 3247 tonnes; 18) Tanzania: 2500 tonnes; 19) United Kingdom: 2492 tonnes; 20) Vietnam: 2393 tonnes

World’s Top Exporters (in value terms) of Green Peas (2020): 1) Guatemala: US$72560,000; 2) Netherlands: US$69913,000; 3) United States: US$52468,000; 4) Peru: US$31017,000; 5) China: US$30316,000; 6) France: US$25461,000; 7) Mexico: US$24383,000; 8) Belgium: US$11810,000; 9) Germany: US$11420,000; 10) Egypt: US$8165,000; 11) Kenya: US$5555,000; 12) Zimbabwe: US$5423,000; 13) Italy: US$5349,000; 14) Spain: US$4518,000; 15) Vietnam: US$3967,000; 16) Ukraine: US$3464,000; 17) Romania: US$3463,000; 18) United Kingdom: US$3087,000; 19) Poland: US$2581,000; 20) Morocco: US$1691,000

World’s Top Pulse-Producing Countries

Pulses are the edible seeds of plants in the legume family. Pulses grow in pods and come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors. The FAO recognizes 11 types of pulses: dry beans, dry broad beans, dry peas, chickpeas, cow peas, pigeon peas, lentils, Bambara beans, vetches, lupins and pulses nes (not elsewhere specified – minor pulses that don’t fall into one of the other categories).

World’s Top Producers of Pulses nes (2020): 1) India: 961743 tonnes; 2) Spain: 311840 tonnes; 3) Poland: 222250 tonnes; 4) Mozambique: 219786 tonnes; 5) Bangladesh: 206127 tonnes; 6) China: 145746 tonnes; 7) Vietnam: 139190 tonnes; 8) Greece: 137450 tonnes; 9) United Kingdom: 136219 tonnes; 10) Ethiopia: 131630 tonnes; 11) Thailand: 119445 tonnes; 12) Kenya: 118001 tonnes; 13) Kyrgyzstan: 107051 tonnes; 14) Sudan: 90332 tonnes; 15) Nepal: 78483 tonnes; 16) Sierra Leone: 77678 tonnes; 17) France: 71100 tonnes; 18) Nigeria: 65915 tonnes; 19) Guinea: 56933 tonnes; 20) Uzbekistan: 54506 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org, nes means “Not elsewhere specified or included”. A tonne (or metric ton) is a metric unit of mass equivalent to 1,000 kilograms (kgs) or 2,204.6 pounds (lbs). A ton is an imperial unit of mass equivalent to 1,016.047 kg or 2,240 lbs.]

World’s Top Producers (in terms of value) of Pulses nes (2019): 1) India: Int.$760681,000 ; 2) United Kingdom: Int.$191826,000 ; 3) Mozambique: Int.$184947,000 ; 4) Spain: Int.$177890,000 ; 5) Kyrgyzstan: Int.$150350,000 ; 6) Vietnam: Int.$133519,000 ; 7) Poland: Int.$128996,000 ; 8) China: Int.$119341,000 ; 9) Tanzania: Int.$118601,000 ; 10) Thailand: Int.$111795,000 ; 11) Ethiopia: Int.$107950,000 ; 12) Bangladesh: Int.$107162,000 ; 13) Greece: Int.$103165,000 ; 14) Pakistan: Int.$93416,000 ; 15) Kenya: Int.$88829,000 ; 16) France: Int.$85803,000 ; 17) Sudan: Int.$80727,000 ; 18) Sierra Leone: Int.$66521,000 ; 19) Nepal: Int.$60032,000 ; [An international dollar (Int.$) buys a comparable amount of goods in the cited country that a U.S. dollar would buy in the United States.]

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons;

Text Sources: National Geographic, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Natural History magazine, Discover magazine, Times of London, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, AP, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.

Last updated March 2022

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