Pest profiling and varietal screening of winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus): a lesser known green vegetable and grain legume in eastern Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

Winged bean [Psophocarpus tetragonolobus (L.) DC.],
also known as or Goa bean, versatile legume or wonder
legume, is an under-exploited, self-fertilizing tropical
grain legume known for its multifarious usage. It is
unique among leguminous crops in that, several parts of
the plant - leaves, pods, seeds and tubers – are edible
and rich in protein (Garcia and Palmer 1980). In winged
bean, the protein content is 33.82% compared with 35%
of soybean and have been suggested as a potential food
source for the tropics (NAS 1981). It also contains edible
oil (15-20%), Vitamin A (300-900 IU) and also rich in
carbohydrate (Singh et al. 2013). Being a leguminous
crop, it has shown that symbiosis of the plant and the
Rhizobium which is highly promiscuous while in other
legume it is highly