Evaluating the present status on the cultivation and usage of Mucuna prurient in Cho Don District, Bac Kan Province
The survey was conducted in farm households of 3 communes: Xuan Lac, Nam Cuong and Tan Lap in Cho Don District, Bac Kan province from March to April 2021 to evaluate current status of planing and using Mucuna prurient in there. The Participatory Rural Apraisal (PRA) and SWOT methods was used in this survey. Primary information was collected via direct interviews with 80 households growing Mucuna prurient bean using a prepared questionares. The results show that the Mucuna prurient beans are here mainly intercropped with corn accounting for 22,44-31.26% of the arable land structure. The average grain yield was 2.1-2.36 tons/ha. Most of the households grow Mucuna prurients with multiple purposes: 100% of the households plant them for covering the land and collecting seeds for animal feed; 68-76.67% of households sell seeds for traders. The leaves of the Mucuna prurient plant hardly used as feed for livestock. Seeds are processed manually (boiled or roasted and crushed) and added to the diets of animal. However, the knowledge of growing and the processing about Mucuna prurient still limited and the unstable market. Thus, 100% of households participating in the survey wish to receive technical support for Mucuna prurients production and marketing.
