1. General description and special characteristics – Ivy gourd is a perennial vine with white, star shaped flowers and cucumber-like fruit which is green when immature and bright red when ripe. It is naturalized or native in Southeast Asia and East Africa, but is listed as an invasive weed in...
  2. General description and special characteristics – One of the oldest cultivated legumes on record, chickpea is a key ingredient in such well-known Asian and Middle-Eastern foods as humus, falafel, and Burmese (Shan) tofu. Chickpea is grown in tropical, sub-tropical and temperate regions. Two types...
  3. General description and special characteristics – Capsicum frutescens is a perennial growing to 1 m (3ft 3in) by 0.6 m(2ft). The flowers are hermaphroditic (have both male and female organs). It’s believed to have been cultivated in Bolivia and Meso-America as early as the 16th century. This...
  4. General description and special characteristics – Sword bean is known chiefly as a cultivated species and may have been derived by selection from Canavalia virosa, a wild species occurring principally in Africa. It is cultivated widely in South and Southeast Asia, especially in India, Sri Lanka,...
  5. General description and special characteristics – Jack bean is an annual legume. It is bushy (vines less than 1 meter (3 ft.) long), having a deep root system that makes it drought-tolerant. It produces large leaves and smooth pods (up to 30 cm/12 in. long) that yield large, smooth white seeds....
  6. General description and special characteristics – Malabar spinach is a perennial twining (or vining) herb grown for its tender stems and leaves, which can be cooked like spinach. The leaves and shoots are mucilaginous when cooked. Its fruits have been used for dyeing. Malabar spinach tolerates...
  7. General description and special characteristics – An upright, branched annual mainly grown forgrain. Young leaves and stems can be eaten like cooked spinach. The characteristically large inflorescences are bushy and somewhat droopy, containing many seeds which are high in protein. Varieties –...
  8. General description and special characteristics – An upright branched annual of which the young leaves and stems are eaten like cooked spinach. Amaranthus tricolor originates from tropical Asia and is one of the major leafy vegetables in South and Southeast Asia. Varieties – Tigerleaf: green leaf...
  9. Plant Information customized to the ECHO Asia Seed Bank. These seeds are available from the Asia Seed Bank only for shipment within Asia. Please go to The ECHO Asia Seed Bank for more information on ordering.
  10. 02/02/2016 ECHO Asia, in conjunction with the CSSDD (social development arm) of the Myanmar Baptist Convention will be conducting a Myanmar Agriculture and Community Development Workshop in Pyin Oo Lwin, outside of Mandalay, from February 2-5, 2016. Anyone working in agriculture and community development...