PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

Improving Common Bean Performance Under Drought Stress

Kristin A. Schneider, Rigoberto Rosales-Serna, Francisco Ibarra-Perez, Benito Cazares-Enriquez, Jorge A. Acosta-Gallegos, Porfirio Ramirez-Vallejo, Nasrat Wassimi, and James D. Kelly
K.A. Schneider and J.D. Kelly,
Crop and Soil Sciences Department, Michigan State University,
East Lansing, MI 48824;

R. Rosales-S, F. Ibarra-P, B. Cazares-E, and J. Acosta-G.,
Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias (INIFAP),
Apartado Postal 10, Chapingo, Mexico, C.P. 56230;

P. Ramirez -V, Centro de Genetica,
Colegio de Postgraduados,
Montecillo, Mexico 56230;

N. Wassimi,
Swedish Committee for Afghanistan,
Peshawar, Pakistan.

ABSTRACT

Drought is the second major constraint to common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L) production after disease. This study examined yield under drought, yield potential, drought susceptibility index, harvest index, and geometric mean as potential indicators of drought resistant genotypes. The performance of two common bean populations, consisting of 78 and 95 recombinant inbred lines, was examined under moisture stress and non-stress regimes. Experiments were conducted at seven locations (1990 to 1994) in Michigan and Mexico to identify effective selection criteria for drought resistance. Two genotypes from each population yielded in the top 10% under both stress and non-stress conditions. Heritability estimates for yield in the Sierra/AC1028 population, based on five years of data, ranged from 0.55 to 0.59 for stress and non-stress, respectively, and from 0.20 to 0.19 for stress and non-stress, respectively, in the Sierra/Lef-2RB population. Heritability for plant biomass was 0.52 for stress and 0.55 for non-stress in the Sierra/AC1028 population and 0.15 under stress and 0.05 under non-stress in the Sierra/Lef-2RB population. One hundred seed weight was the most highly heritable trait in both populations with heritability estimates of 0.80 for the Sierra/AC1028 population and 0.65 for the Sierra/Lef-2RB population. The geometric mean of the two moisture regimes was the single strongest indicator of performance under stress and non-stress, and a breeding strategy that involves selection based first on the geometric mean, followed by selection based on yield under stress was suggested as the most effective strategy to improve drought resistance in common bean.

Abstracted from:
Schneider, K.A., R. Rosales-Serna, F. Ibarra-Perez, B. Cazares-Enriquez, J. A. Acosta-Gallegos, P. Ramirez-Vallejo, N. Wassimi, and J.D. Kelly. 1997. Improving common bean performance under drought stress. Crop Sci. 37:43-50.

Mark A. Frahm¹, Juan Carlos Rosas², Netzahualcoyotl Mayek-Pérez³, Ernesto López-Salinas⁴, Jorge A. Acosta-Gallegos⁵, James D. Kelly^1,*
Dept. of Crop and Soil Sci., Michigan State Univ., E. Lansing, MI 48824; ² EAP / Zamorano, P.O. Box 93, Tegucigalpa, Honduras; ³Departamento de Química, Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, Universidad 940, CP 20100, Aguascalientes, México; ⁴INIFAP Campo Experimental Cotaxtla, Km 34 Carretera Veracruz-Córdoba, A. Postal 429, CP 91700, Veracruz, México; ⁵INIFAP Campo Experimental Bajío, Km 6.5 Carretera Celaya-San Miguel de Allende, A. Postal 112, CP 38110, Celaya, México; (*author for correspondense; kellyj@msu.edu)

ABSTRACT

In the lowland regions of Latin America, a large proportion of beans are sown at the beginning of a dry season where a guaranteed terminal (end-of-season) drought will reduce yields. This study was undertaken to identify lines within two black bean recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations with resistance to terminal drought. The two RIL populations were developed from crosses between a drought resistant line, B98311 from Michigan, with TLP 19 and VAX 5, two lines from CIAT with improved disease resistance and adaptation to growing conditions in Latin America. The RIL populations were evaluated in experiments conducted in Zamorano, Honduras and Veracruz, Mexico under drought stress and well-watered (non-stress) treatments. Yields were reduced in each experiment by drought and the fungal pathogen, Macrophomina phaseolina. Drought stress, disease pressure and low yields contributed to high coefficients of variation (CV), which made it difficult to select superior lines. Selection was based on rank of geometric mean (GM) yield calculated from the yield in the stress and non-stress treatments. One RIL, L88-63 ranked first in GM yield at both locations. Subsequent testing in Honduras and Michigan confirmed the high yield potential and broad adaptation of L88-63. Breeding beans for drought resistance in lowland tropical environments should also include breeding for resistance to M. phaseolina.

Abstracted from:
Frahm, M.A., J.C. Rosas, N. Mayek-Pérez, E. López-Salinas, J.A. Acosta-Gallegos, J.D. Kelly. 2004. Breeding Beans for Resistance to Terminal Drought in the Lowland Tropics. Euphytica (in press).

Frahm, M.A., J.C. Rosas, N. Mayek-Pérez, E. López-Salinas, J.A. Acosta-Gallegos, J.D. Kelly. 2003. Resistencia a sequía terminal en frijol negro tropical. Agronomia Mesoamericana 14:143-150.