Lablab (Lablab purpureus) NEW

Description: Lablab (Lablab purpureus), also known as hyacinth bean, is a vigorous warm season legume that can be grown as an annual or short lived perennial. It is a fast growing climbing or trailing plant that produces a large amount of leafy biomass, making it particularly valuable in tropical and subtropical permaculture systems. Lablab fixes atmospheric nitrogen through its relationship with rhizobia, helping improve soil fertility while its dense foliage protects the soil from heat, evaporation and erosion. 

In a permaculture system, lablab can serve several functions at once. It can be grown as a living groundcover, green manure, chop and drop mulch, nitrogen fixing companion plant and forage crop. It works particularly well around larger food producing plants or alongside crops such as corn and sorghum, where its vigorous growth can provide groundcover and organic matter. When terminated and returned to the soil, lablab contributes biomass and nitrogen that can benefit subsequent crops. 

Lablab is also highly useful for rotational grazing, particularly for cattle and other ruminants. It produces high quality, protein rich forage and can provide valuable feed through summer and into autumn in Queensland. Grazing should be carefully controlled rather than allowing animals to continuously graze it down. Lablab is generally ready for grazing once it has developed a full canopy, around 8 to 12 weeks after emergence, and livestock should be removed while enough stems and leaf material remain for rapid regrowth. With good management, it can provide several grazing periods during the season.