Abstract:
Dry bean landraces
could be cultivated
under Low
-
Input
(LI) farming conditions
because
of their yield stability and quality traits
.
The objective of this research was to
evaluate and
identify landraces with high yield and stable performance under LI
environment and study th
e relationships among agronomical, physiochemical, and quality
traits.
Seven landraces of common bean (
Phaseolus vulgaris
L.) were evaluated in field
trials
under certified organic management
during three consecutive growing seasons
(2008
-
2010) at two diff
erent areas located in northern Greece in a RCBD with four
replicates
.
Site per year was considered as one environment. A ranking of landraces
according to seed yield potential indicated a group of five high yielding landraces, while
Genetic Coefficient of
Variation (GCV) for seed yield (9.80%) and number of pods/plant
(9.57%) indicated useful genetic variability within landraces, combined with high
heritability values (H
2
= 0.71 and 0.95, respectively). GGE biplot analysis for yield
performance and stabilit
y indicated that landrace Kastoria fell within the scope of an
ideal genotype, followed by three other promising landraces. Significant positive
correlation was detected between
cooking time and Ash (0.94**). High
GCV
values for
hydration increase (16.77%)
and cooking time (15.65%) combined with their high
heritability (H
2
= 0.98 and 0.89, respectively) are of great interest for further genetic
advancement
. These results indicate that dry bean landraces may provide the appropriate
differentiation in several
important traits when cultivated under LI conditions, so, effort
should be directed to exploit this variability for the development of new varieties suitable
for LI agriculture.
Keywords:
GGE biplot, Low
-
input agriculture,
Phaseolus vulgaris
L
.
, Yield stab
ility.
