The field experiment, conducted by IIAM in collaboration with a local farmer association included intercropped common bean and corn, with and without fertilizer, and mono-cropped plantings of each. An interview was conducted and broadcast by TV1 of Mozambique of Drs. Magalhaes (IIAM) and Porch (ARS). The interview with Dr. Porch is shown.

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Evaluation of Andean Diversity Panel in Honduras

The evaluation of bean golden yellow mosaic virus (BGYMV) in the ADP population was completed at the Escuela Agricola Panamericana (Zamorano) near Tegucigalpa, Honduras in August 2013. Participating were Juan Osorno (North Dakota State University), James Beaver (University of Puerto Rico), Karen Cichy (USDA-ARS), Tim Porch (USDA-ARS), and Juan Carlos Rosas (Zamorano).

BGYMV infection of ADP at Zamorano

The population was evaluated under severe BGYMV pressure. Several advanced lines from the U. of Puerto Rico, bred for BGYMV resistance, were the only genotypes showing resistance to this white fly transmitted virus. Although not a pathogen in Africa, BGYMV is common in Caribbean and Central American production areas and is an important breeding objective for Andean cultivars grown in the Caribbean. The visitors also toured the extensive breeding program of Dr. Rosas, regional common bean trials, and evaluated early generation breeding lines from Puerto Rico that are being advanced at Zamorano during the off-season in order to speed up the development of breeding lines for FtF countries in Africa.

Visit to common bean breeding programs in Guatemala

The ICTA breeding programs of Julio Cesar Villatoro and Fernando Aldana were then visited in Guatemala at the Chimaltenango and Quetzaltenango Research Stations.

Chimaltenango breeding program

The visitors met with Dr. Elias Raymundo, Director General of ICTA, regarding the progress with the different research projects and grants in the region. Dr. Raymundo then participated in the visits to the breeding programs. The program in Chimaltenango is working with breeding populations and there was a large seed increase of a new black bean cultivar ‘ICTA Super Chiva’.

The Quetzaltenango Station had plantings of bolonillo bean lines that are earlier in maturity and have a less aggressive climbing habit when intercropped with corn.

Diversity in intercrop system in Quetzaltenango

Drs. Osorno and Beaver are initiating Legume Innovation Lab projects (USAID) in Guatemala that take into account the diverse production systems of common bean that involve the intercropping of multiple species .

Photo showing dry bean diversity

Landraces represent cultivated crop germplasm that has been grown for centuries by subsistence farmers. These farmer selected cultivars can be uniform for seed shape and color, or represent mixtures of different seed types. Similarly, agronomic traits can be uniform or mixtures of plant types. Many landraces are locally adapted but can be distributed regionally. Landraces, because of their natural selection under low input production systems and often in less than ideal environments, are great reservoirs of genetic diversity for many different traits including adaptation to low fertility soils, drought, and other abiotic and biotic stresses. With this in mind, the FtF ARS Bean Team, obtained all the dry bean landraces accessions that had been collected from East Africa and housed by the USDA-ARS, National Plant Germplasm Repository, in Pullman, WA (250 accessions). A subset of 95 landrace accessions originally collected from Tanzania, and representative of the large seeded market classes currently grown there, were first increased for seed in Prosser, WA, and then evaluated in a replicated field trial at Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro, Tanzania. The trial, coordinated by Professor Susan Nchimbi and Eninka Mndolwa (Research Associate), sought to test the accessions for general adaptation under low soil fertility. Yields ranged from 640 to 1650 kg/ha, and some accessions possessed more nodules for biological nitrogen fixation than others (ranging from 4 to 38 nodules). The positive and significant correlation 47% between grain yield and nodule number observed in this trial, supports that accessions with more nodules have potential to yield more in low fertility soils. These data, and observations for disease reaction against fungal (angular leaf spot, rust) and viral (bean common mosaic) pathogens provides a rich baseline dataset to guide future utilization of these landrace accessions in breeding of improved dry bean cultivars for East Africa.

Miklas and Porch visited the National Program in Mozambique and the National Program, Bunda College, CIAT, and Africa Rising project in Malawi and investigated possible collaborations to increase dry edible bean productivity in the region. In the Northern highlands of Mozambique, the FtF team will collaboratively develop highly productive dry beans with ashy stem blight and terminal drought resistance for selection by the National Program, and in Malawi highly productive dry beans with heat, drought and ashy stem blight resistance. Most dry beans in both countries are produced without inputs thus suffer from low soil fertility, drought, and disease. The ARS-FtF dry bean project is geared toward increasing dry bean productivity for low input agriculture systems in FtF countries.

A large population of dry bean lines (Andean Diversity Panel) composed of large-seeded types that are preferred across Africa was planted in MZ and seed was provided to Bunda College in Malawi for planting next season. These trials will provide information on the major diseases and abiotic stresses present, and will allow for the study of the genetics of the major constraints in the region. A headquarters for operations in Malawi with a post-doc level coordinator of activities would facilitate the work of FtF ARS bean dry bean researchers in the region.

Pastor-Corrales traveled to South Africa to evaluate the Andean Diversity Panel (ADP), a common

In Cedara, South Africa, Dr. Pastor-Corrales in front of a bean susceptible to rust.

bean nursery comprised of some 350 Andean common bean cultivars. The large-seeded Andean beans are the preferred dry bean type planted and consumed in Eastern and Southern African countries. Diseases, including rust, are a significant limitation to dry bean production in this area and rust is recurrent and widespread.

The ADP was planted in Cedara Agricultural Research Station, KwaZulu-Natal Province. The rust disease was quite severe throughout the field in all susceptible check cultivars, indicating that 2013 was an excellent year and Cedara an excellent site for the rust evaluation of the ADP. About 75 of the 350 ADP entries were resistant to rust; 99 entries were susceptible and the other entries were intermediate in their reaction to rust.

In Chilanga, Zambia, evaluating the ADP for root rot with local collaborators.

The resistant cultivars are candidates for further rust evaluation under greenhouse conditions in Beltsville, Maryland. Some of these cultivars with rust resistance in future evaluations will be used as parents to improve the rust resistance in common bean cultivars planted by farmers in Easter and Southern African countries. Pastor-Corrales also traveled to Zambia to evaluate the ADP for reaction to soil borne pathogens that cause root rot of beans. Based on the emergence of young pants evaluated, two root diseases were found and about 100 ADP entries had excellent germination suggesting that they may be resistant to root rots. Additional evaluations are needed to identify those with genetic resistance to root rots.