Plant Information

Common Name: SUNN HEMP
Scientific Name: Crotalaria juncea

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Description

• Annual
• Sunn hemp is a fast growing legume which originated in India and Pakistan.
• It is an erect, herbaceous, laxly branched annual shrub growing up to 1.5m high, with bright green, simple elliptical leaves.
• It bears deep-yellow terminal flowers that turn into small, inflated light brown pods.
• The seeds are heart-shaped, grayish olive, dark grey or dark brown to black and loosened in the pod at maturity.
• It has a well-developed root system, with a strong taproot.
• Sunn hemp is grown in temperate regions as a summer annual.
• Although it can tolerate light frost, growth and nitrogen fixation are reduced under cool conditions.
• Sunn hemp is drought tolerant and can grow in hot, semi-arid and arid areas with an average annual rainfall as low as 200 mm - but irrigation is necessary for maximum growth and nitrogen fixation.
• It is adapted to a wide range of soils and performs better on poor sandy soils than most other crops.
• However, it grows best on well-drained soils with a pH from 5.0 to 7.5.
• Sunn hemp can be planted for production of bast fibers used in the manufacturing of twine and cord, high quality paper and pulp.
• For fiber, it grows best on fairly light textured soil like sandy loam or loam of at least moderate fertility.
• For other purposes, it will also grow well on clay soils and will tolerate low fertility providing that soils are well-drained.
• Sunn hemp can be planted as a cover crop and green manure to improve and rejuvenate soil quality.
• It is excellent to add nitrogen and carbon, for increasing soil organic matter to over-farmed soils, for loosening subsoil, to reduce soil erosion, conserve soil water and recycle plant nutrients.
• To do this, Sunn hemp need to be plow down before reaching full-bloom stage otherwise it becomes too fibrous.
• Sunn hemp is known to suppress nematodes and can be planted as a break crop to reduce weed and nematode populations.
• It produces a compound that is toxic to several nematode species, making it an excellent weapon for pest management and to control root-knot.
• Sunn hemp can be grown as livestock feed - it is non-toxic to animals.
• When grown for forage, it can be harvested, starting 6 - 8 weeks after sowing, and then every 4 weeks.
• Plants will remain succulent until it start flowering when stems begin to lignify

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