Table 4.
Species | Common name (s) | Principal regions of production and comments |
---|---|---|
Arachis hypogaea | groundnut, peanut | West and South Asia, Africa, North and South America |
Cajanus cajan | pigeon pea | South Asia, Africa |
Cicer arietinum | chickpea, Bengal gram | Mainly South Asia, but widely grown elsewhere |
Glycine max | soy(a)bean | North and South America, East and South Asia |
Lablab purpureus | lablab bean, lablab, hyacinth bean | Native to Africa, but also cultivated throughout tropical regions of Asia |
Lathyrus sativus | grasspea, blue sweet pea, chickling pea | South Asia and East Africa, particularly in areas prone to drought |
Lens culinaris | lentil | North America, South and West Asia |
Lupinus spp. | lupins | Australasia, Europe, Middle East, Russia |
Macrotyloma uniflorum | horse gram | Tropical South Asia and South-East Asia |
Phaseolus lunatus | lima bean | Temperate USA and other arid areas |
Phaseolus vulgaris | common bean, dry beans, French bean, navy bean | East Africa, North and South America, West and South-East Europe |
Pisum sativum | pea, field pea | Most regions of the world. Used as a green vegetable or dry grain |
Vicia faba | faba bean, broad bean | East and West Asia, Europe, Africa. Used as a green vegetable or dry grain |
Vicia sativa | vetch | Predominantly Africa and Europe, but also grown in the other regions |
Vigna mungo | black gram, urad | South and South-East Asia |
Vigna radiata | mungbean, green gram | South and South-East Asia |
Vigna unguiculata | cowpea | Semi-arid Africa, especially Nigeria |
Vigna subterranea | Bambara groundnut | Production restricted to Africa |
Sources: Sprent and Sprent (1990); FAOSTAT (2021).