Arka Suvidha
An ICAR-IIHR bush bean with straight, oval, light green, fleshy, crisp, stringless pods. The national checklist gives 19 t/ha; a Karnataka grower got a higher price for it than for Arka Komal and Arka Anoop.
Quick facts
- Crop
- French Bean
- Type
- Bush type
- Season
- Rabi
- Maturity period
- First pick about 70–75 days (IIHR variety list)
- Seed rate
- 60–80 kg/ha (about 24–32 kg/acre)
- Expected yield
- 19 t/ha green pods
- Suitable soil
- Loam
- Disease resistance
- No special resistance claimed
- Release
- Released by ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bengaluru. Listed in the national checklist for Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and the hills of Uttar Pradesh.
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
Arka Suvidha is a bushy, photo-insensitive French bean from ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru. The pods are straight, oval, light green, fleshy, stringless and crisp. The national vegetable checklist gives a pod yield of 19 t/ha and recommends it for Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and the hills of Uttar Pradesh. IIHR lists the first pick at about 70–75 days. A Karnataka farmer near Bengaluru grew it for three years and averaged 16.7 t/ha. She sold it at Rs 11 a kilo against Rs 10 for Arka Komal and Arka Anoop, because it is stringless, and she could delay picking by up to 5 days without losing pod quality.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose Arka Suvidha if your buyers pay more for stringless, fleshy pods, or if labour is short and you may not be able to pick every 2 or 3 days. A Karnataka grower reported she could wait up to 5 days. It gives 19 t/ha, a little less than Arka Komal or Arka Anoop (20 t/ha each). The checklist recommends it for Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and the hills of Uttar Pradesh, so outside those, trial a small plot first.
Sowing & cultivation
- Sowing timeMid-October to November for the plains rabi crop
- Seed rate60–80 kg/ha (about 24–32 kg/acre)
- SpacingRows 30–45 cm apart, plants 8–10 cm apart in the row
Soil & climate
Soil
- pH
- 5.5–6.8
Climate
- Temperature
- 20–25°C for growth and pod yield
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- Stringless, fleshy, crisp pods. The Karnataka grower got about 10% more per kilo than for the other two Arka beans.
- Picking can be delayed by up to 5 days without losing pod quality, according to that grower. That helps when labour is short.
- The highest net returns of the three Arka beans in that grower's farm.
Things to consider
- The checklist recommends it for Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and the hills of Uttar Pradesh only. Elsewhere, including the south, the evidence is one Karnataka grower's experience.
- No disease resistance is listed. Arka Anoop covers rust and bacterial blight.
- Its listed yield (19 t/ha) is a little below Arka Komal and Arka Anoop (20 t/ha each). You pay for the premium pod with a small yield gap.
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Himachal Pradesh
- Jammu and Kashmir
Plan your picking days around a 5-day gap
The main labour cost in French bean is picking. A Karnataka grower in the IIHR story says Arka Suvidha pods keep their quality even if picking is delayed by up to 5 days.
That gives you room to plan. Instead of picking every day, you can set two picking days a week, for example Monday and Friday, a gap of 3 and 4 days. Both fall inside the 5-day margin she reports.
Treat 5 days as a limit, not a target, because it is one grower's experience. Pods that are left too long on any bean get coarse and the plants slow down. If the weather turns hot, shorten the gap again.
Can you keep your own planting material?
This is an open-pollinated variety, so seed from a healthy crop of your own can be sown again. Keep seed only from disease-free plants, dry it properly, store it cool and dry, and bring in fresh certified seed every three to four years so the variety does not drift.
How it compares with other varieties
Every French Bean variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.
| Variety | Best for | Maturity | Yield | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arka Anoop | The disease-resistant Arka bean: rust and bacterial blight | No separate days-to-first-pick figure is published | 20 t/ha green pods | Karnataka |
| Arka Komal | A flat-podded bush bean that travels well, with an optional dry-seed crop | First pick about 70–75 days (IIHR variety list) | 20 t/ha pods, or 1,500 kg/ha dry seed | Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala |
| Arka Suvidhathis page | A stringless, fleshy-podded bean that earns a better price | First pick about 70–75 days (IIHR variety list) | 19 t/ha green pods | Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir |
| Contender | An early, widely adapted bush bean for the plains' autumn sowing | First picking in about 50 days | 20 t/ha green pods (200 q/ha) | Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Karnataka |
| Kentucky Wonder | A climbing heirloom bean for gardens that already have supports | Seed sellers list 58–72 days to first picking; picking then continues for weeks | No Indian public trial figure is published | Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka |
| Pant Anupama | A resistant bush bean for the hills and tarai, grown for pod quality, not for yield | First picking in 55–65 days after sowing | 9 t/ha green pods (90 q/ha) | Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand |
| Pusa Parvati | The highest-yielding Indian bush bean here, with mosaic and powdery mildew resistance | First picking in about 50 days | 22.5 t/ha green pods (225 q/ha) | Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana |
Tools for this crop
The numbers you need next: how much seed to buy, whether the lot germinates, what the fertilizer bill looks like and what French Bean is selling for.
- Seed Rate CalculatorHow much seed your French Bean plot needs, corrected for the germination of the lot you bought.
- Germination CalculatorTest 100 seeds from the bag before sowing and see whether the lot is fit to sow.
- Seed Variety FinderFilter every French Bean variety on this site by state, season, duration and soil.
- Fertilizer CalculatorTurn the NPK recommendation for French Bean into bags of urea, DAP and MOP for your field size.
- Crop CalendarMonth-by-month sowing, weeding, irrigation and harvest dates for French Bean in your state.
- Crop Profit CalculatorPut your seed, labour and input costs against the yield you expect from this variety.
- Mandi Price CheckerToday's French Bean rate in your nearest mandi, before you fix a price with a trader.
Subsidy and government support
Schemes that help with the cost of French Bean seed or planting material. Rules and the application route are on each scheme page.
Frequently asked questions
Does a stringless bean really sell for more?
In the IIHR success story, a Karnataka grower sold Arka Suvidha at Rs 11 a kilo and Arka Komal and Arka Anoop at Rs 10, about 10% more, because it is stringless. That is one grower's experience in one market. Check what your own buyer pays before you plan on it.
How long can I delay picking Arka Suvidha?
The Karnataka grower in the IIHR story says picking can be delayed by up to 5 days without losing pod quality. That is her report, not a trial result, so use it as a safety margin and not as a routine.
What is the yield of Arka Suvidha?
The national checklist gives 19 t/ha of pods. The Karnataka grower averaged 16.7 t/ha over three years, with net returns of about Rs 1,58,700 per hectare, the highest of her three Arka beans.
Where is Arka Suvidha recommended?
The national checklist lists Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and the hills of Uttar Pradesh. The Karnataka grower shows it also works near Bengaluru, but that is one farm.
Sourced from: Checklist of Commercial Varieties of Vegetables — TNAU Agritech Portal (national bulletin), Success story of an innovative vegetable farmer, Karnataka — ICAR-IIHR. editorial policy.