Penzenskoye 16 is an annual legume crop included in the State Register. The plant is characterized by upright and sturdy stems 100–150 cm tall with a fleshy structure. Leaves are twice–triple pinnate, consisting of two–three pairs of large elliptical leaflets with filamentous tips; stipules are large and provided with extrafloral nectaries, making the plant attractive to bees.
Floristic features include inflorescences in the form of racemes with 7–8 white flowers adorned with black spots on the pedicels. The fruit is a large pod covered with hairs; seeds are kidney-shaped, light-yellow at harvest and brown after long-term storage, usually three to five in one pod. The mass of 1000 seeds ranges from 295 to 350 g.
Technological advantages: the variety has high technological ease of cultivation – smaller seeds, resistant to lodging and pests, as well as a low level of infection with eschreitosis (2–3%) and brown leaf spotting (8–10%). The vegetation period is 98–112 days. For wide-row sowing, the sowing rate is 100–150 kg/ha, for row sowing – 160–250 kg/ha; sowing depth 5–8 cm.
Yield is high: average yield of green mass reaches 290–360 c/ha, dry matter – 80–115 c/ha, and seeds – 38–58 c/ha. High protein content makes Penzenskiye 16 a valuable feed product for agriculture.
Feed beans of this variety are also nectariferous: nectar productivity ranges from 15 to 30 kg of sugar per hectare, which attracts bees and bumblebees to flowers through holes in the corollas. This makes the plant useful both for feed production and for supporting the local ecosystem.
