Entomology, Department of
Date of this Version
3-1973
Citation
Tennessee Farm and Home Science Progress Report 85, January, February, March 1973, pp 10-11.
Abstract
Snap beans, Phaseolus vulgaris L., are important to the economy of Tennessee. According to the publication, Tennessee Agricultural Statistics, 13,000 acres were grown in Tennessee in 1971 with a value of $2,984,000. Tennessee produces 5.9% of the beans grown in the United States and ranks fifth in the nation in snap bean production. Tennessee-grown beans are processed in Tennessee and in nearby states. In 1972 demand was up because of poor growing weather in the adjacent bean producing states. Most beans in Tennessee are grown on the Cumberland Plateau, Sequatchie Valley, and in extreme northeast Tennessee. In recent years, looper infestations on the Cumberland Plateau have resulted in the abandonment of large acreages of snap beans. Infestations usually occur too late to cause much damage by defoliation (Figure 1), but their presence in harvested beans results in rejection by the processor.