Faba bean (fava bean, broadbean, horsebean)

favabeanVicia faba 
Fabaceae (legume family)

Location: Pulse crops

Origin: Middle East

Biophysical Requirements: Warm‐season annual with coarse erect stems, large leaflets, large pods, and large flattened seeds.

Food Uses: This vigorous food crop was well known to ancient Greeks and Egyptians. It is it is an important food crop in Egypt and the Sudan. China is the chief producer. In the U.S. it is adapted only to the coastal sections of California where it is grown for food or green manuring.

More information

See also Purdue University new crops website.