PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

International Agriculture and Rural Development: An Investment with Mutual Benefits for the United States and Developing Countries

A Case Study Series Developed by the Association for International Agriculture and Rural Development (AIARD)

Breeding Beans for Drought Resistance Yields Mutual Economic Benefits for Mexico and Michigan

Summary

Program Area:
Sharing scientific knowledge and information

Partners:
Bean/Cowpea Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP), Crop and Soil Sciences Department, Michigan State University; Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias (INIFAP), Mexico

Principal Mutual Benefits:
Mexico is the second leading producer of beans worldwide after Brazil. Michigan is the leading producer of navy and black beans in the U.S. Drought conditions seriously constrain rainfed production in Mexico and Michigan. The germplasm developed as a result of international scientific collaboration to breed drought resistant beans (within the framework of the Bean/ Cowpea Collaborative Research Support Program) has benefited both countries.

Problem
Drought is a major constraint to bean production worldwide, second only to pests and diseases in importance. Developing new drought resistant bean varieties through breeding is the only long-term sustainable solution to this problem. Breeding for resistance to drought is complicated by many factors, for example, the type of drought, widely varying moisture conditions in bean production regions, the presence of root pathogens, inadequate genetic variability to identify varieties that are resistant to drought, and problems involving screening methodologies.

Objectives and Activities:
Mexico, with over one million hectares of beans planted under limited rainfall, is an ideal location to study drought, evaluate germplasm, and test control strategies. Work initiated by the Bean/Cowpea CRSP and the national bean program of Mexico, led by INIFAP, focused on the evaluation and selection of local bean germplasm under drought stress and its use as parental material for varietal improvement.

During the development of the new bean varieties, testing was conducted for yield and performance in experiment station test plots and then undertaken in growers’ fields. In the latter set of trials, the variety Pinto Villa, developed through CRSP/INIFAP collaboration, outperformed local varieties by 72 percent in yield terms. Based on these data, the new variety was multiplied, distributed, and adopted by producers -- first, in Chihuahua state and ultimately throughout the semiarid highlands of Mexico. The rapid adoption of Pinto Villa in the semiarid highlands was accelerated by three successive years of severe drought in the region.

Benefits to Developing Country
Over 350,000 hectares, or 80 percent of the acreage planted to pinto beans, are now planted to the drought tolerant Pinto Villa variety in the semiarid highlands of Mexico. As a result, Pinto Villa has come to provide consumers with one of the cheapest beans that are available on Mexican supermarket shelves. Pinto beans are now 46 percent cheaper than black beans in the marketplace.

Benefits to US
The germplasm developed as part of the Bean/Cowpea CRSP has also benefited the U.S., where periodic drought can dramatically reduce yield and economic returns to bean growers. Over 90 percent of the bean production in Michigan (the leading producer of navy and black beans in the U.S.) is grown under rainfed conditions. Annual bean production fluctuates greatly as a consequence of erratic rainfall patterns.

Based on research from the Bean/Cowpea CRSP program in Mexico, one line, T3016-2, was identified as top-yielding among the 181 lines grown under seven drought-stressed environments in Mexico and Michigan. When T3016-2 was used as a parent in the Michigan State University breeding program, new black and navy beans were developed that outperformed the standard varieties by over 165 percent under drought stress. This research is also being extended to assist bean producers in the semiarid production areas of the Western U.S. where water availability for irrigation and escalating water costs are restricting production.

Project Costs
Since 1986, the obligation of the Bean/Cowpea CRSP to research work on drought has been under $2 million. In Mexico, that figure has sustained (through research advances) an industry with an estimated annual farm gate value of $390 million. In terms of importance to food security, Mexico has the highest bean consumption in Latin America, over 15 kilos per capita annually.

In Michigan, commercial dry bean yields peaked at an all time high in 1999, at a level representing a 13.5 percent increase over the last record high in 1991. In general, most estimates attribute 50 percent of the improved performance to the improved variety, with the other 50 percent being attributed to improved management, including better disease, insect, and weed control. The farm gate value of the 1999 bean crop in Michigan was $150 million; the comparable value in 1991 was $132 million. Taking varietal improvement to represent half of the $18 million increase between the two years leads to the conclusion that the economic benefit of varietal improvement was around $9 million for 1991-99. Similar yield gains have been reported in other states as a direct result of CRSP research.

Case Study Contributor

Dr. James D. Kelly
370 Crop and Soil Sciences
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
Ph: (517) 355-355-0205
Fx: (517) 353-3955
Email: kellyj@msu.edu

Impact of the Bean/Cowpea Latin American Caribbean (LAC) CRSP Regional Roject on U.S. Bean Research and Production

Leading Bean/Cowpea CRSP scientists in the LAC region:

Dr. Jim Beaver University of Puerto Rico
Dr. Dermot Coyne University of Nebraska
Dr. Peter Graham University of Minnesota
Dr. George Hosfield Michigan State University
Dr. Jim Kelly Michigan State University
Dr. Doug Maxwell University of Wisconsin
Dr. Jim Steadman University of Nebraska

In their analysis of “Who Gains from Genetic Improvements in U.S. Crops?”, Frisvold et al., (1999) report results of a study using a world agricultural trade model to estimate the size and distribution of economic gains from yield increases in major United States (U.S.) crops attributable to genetic improvements. The net global economic benefits of a one-time, permanent increase in U.S. yields are about $8.1 billion (discounted at 10%) and $15.4 billion (discounted at 5%). The United States captures 50-60% of these net gains. Gains to consumers in developing and transitional economies range from 6.1 billion (10% discount rate) to $11.6 billion (5% discount rate). What is interesting is that in addition to the target market in the U.S., developing countries benefit from advances in genetic improvement within the U.S. agricultural sector. Within the framework of the CRSP, impact follows as a consequence of achieving research results, through project activities that relax the identified constraint (R. Bernsten, personal communication). Given the mission of the CRSP, the constraints identified and researched are within the LAC region. In contrast to targeted constraints with the U.S., the impacts on U.S. agriculture generated by the CRSP are, therefore, an indirect spin-off of CRSP research activities overseas.

Impact
Commercial dry bean yields in Michigan peaked at an all time high of 21 cwt/acre in 1999. This represents a 13.5 % increase over the last record high yield recorded in 1991. As a result, Michigan bean growers produced over 7.5 million cwt of dry beans equivalent in size to 1982 production. To produce a similar volume in 1982, growers had to plant 550,000 acres compared to 350,000 acres in 1999. Improved performance contributed to a savings in land planted to dry beans, land that could be devoted to other commodities. In general, most estimates attribute 50% of the improved performance in crops to improved varieties, the other 50% is attributed to improved management including better disease, insect, and weed control. The farm-gate value of the 7.5 million cwt bean crop produced in 1999, is $150 million and if genetics (new varieties, LAC germplasm) contributed 6.75 % of that value, the impact of genetic improvement to bean producers in Michigan would be around $10 million in 1999. The figure compares yield gain between the two most recent >best= production years of 1991 and 1999, to help reduce the favorable >weather= factor in the calculation. Similar yield gains have been reported in other states as a direct result of CRSP sponsored research.

Release of varieties and breeding lines in the U.S. that have LAC germplasm: U.S. based CRSP scientists have served as a conduit of information and germplasm to non CRSP researchers in the U.S. New sources of heat and drought tolerance, agronomic traits (architecture, maturity, yield), disease resistance (anthracnose, rust, common blight, white mold, root rot and others), and general adaptation to unique environments have all aided U.S. bean researchers, public and private.

• Release of nine varieties in six commercial classes in the U.S.
  
• Release of BGMV resistant white lines in P.R. and snap bean germplasm in S. Florida
  
• Heat tolerance of Indeterminate Jamaica Red used to improve kidney beans for CA
  
• Enhanced anthracnose resistance from Honduran and Mexican germplasm
  
• Drought tolerance in Michigan breeding lines from Mexican germplasm
  
• Enhanced common bacterial blight resistance in Nebraska
  
• PC-50 (Andean origin - D.R.) is a new source of resistance to white mold
  
• Collaborative release of 36 (11 navy, 18 pinto, 7 GN) multiple disease resistant breeding lines. These lines have been used in crosses by public and private breeders as sources of disease resistance with adaptation, yield potential and moderate seed quality
  
• Enhanced rust resistance in pinto and great northern beans. Estimated value $5 million to intermountain region based on higher yields (7-10% gain), and reduced input of fungicides (R. Perrin, personal communication)

• Identification and mapping of new genes (Kelly and Miklas, 1998)
  
• Use of linked molecular markers to pyramid resistance genes (Miklas et al., 2000)
  
• Transgenic beans developed in collaboration with Agracetus, Inc.
  
• Development of detection methods for geminiviruses which have been used extensively in Florida and CA for virus detection in beans, tomatoes, and melons
  
• Help private companies in identifying sources of resistance and screening techniques

• Studies on the pathogenic variation for rust, anthracnose, and common blight
  
• Mobile Nursery: Bean disease resistance genotype nursery that can be easily transported to diseased bean fields to assess pathogen variation within 10-14 days (bean rust)
  
• Minnesota scientists, working with Ecuador, have shown that root rot problems found in central MN can be alleviated at least in part by use of Kodiak, a Bacillus subtilis product. In 1999, this product was used on 20,000 acres of red kidney bean production in MN
  
• Development of screening methods for white mold and root rot

Increased awareness of potential markets for U.S. agriculture

Finally, one of the intangible benefits attributed to the Bean/Cowpea CRSP is collaboration. Within a minor commodity such as beans, collaboration is vital if future gains are to be made. The CRSP has helped foster a strong collaborative effort within the U.S. bean community. That collaboration strengthened similar efforts of the Bean Improvement Cooperative - BIC and the W-150 Regional Project. Bean scientists who may not have actively cooperated previously found themselves ‘connected’ through the B/C CRSP and their research was strengthened as a result. Although the benefits of such collaboration are recognized, they are difficult to measure as impact.

References:
Frisvold, G., J. Sullivan, and A. Raneses. 1999. Who gains from genetic improvements in U.S. crops? AgBioForum, 2(3&4), 226-235. http://www.agbioforum.org

Miklas, P.N. and J. D. Kelly. 1998. Molecular Breeding 4:1-11.

Miklas, P.N. J.R. Smith, R. Riley, K.F. Grafton, S.P. Singh, G. Jung, D.P. Coyne. 2000. BIC 43:39-40.

Prepared by James D. Kelly, Crop and Soil Sciences, Michigan State University, for the Bean/Cowpea CRSP Midcourse 2000 Workshop, held in East Lansing Michigan, April 2000.