The ancestors of modern snap beans, limas and butterbeans were domesticated 6,000 to 8,000 years ago in Central and South America. Beans 2,500 years old have been preserved in graves in the Andes.
Fava beans are more difficult to eat because the seed coat is inedible.
Also many people in the Mediterranean are highly allergic to fava beans. Southern peas originated in southern Asia and India, but were brought to Africa by travellers and to the New World with the slave trade. Some of the important diseases of vegetables in the South and their control are described in Disease Management. The general principles of insect and disease IPM programs are also described in their respective chapters. Cultivar resistances to the more common insects and diseases in the South are listed below, however, as it may be useful to select cultivars with multiple resistances.