Efforts are being made to popularise in India a pulse called rice-bean (Vigna umballata) which has a high nutritive value. The plant is a native of South Asia and its cultivation in India has been confined to the tribal regions of eastern and north-eastern parts of the country.

Rice-bean has a protein content of 14-24 per cent and also contains vitamins, calcium and iron. Besides being more resistant to disease than other pulses, the rice-bean plant can be used as fodder and a green manure after its pods are harvested.

The plant has more pods compared to cowpea and black gram and all the pods mature simultaneously, making for an easy harvest.