Background: Bean is an important nutritious food and cash crop. Bean productivity is low mostly due to various abiotic, biotic and socio-economic constraints. The aims of this study were to assess constraints to high bean seed yield productivity, determine farmers’ perceptions on drought and low soil fertility, strategies farmers are practicing to adapt to the constraints and preferred bean traits. Methods: A Participatory rural appraisal approach was applied by administering a questionnaire to 139 household representatives from Bazale, Phalula and Utale areas in 2017. Result: Farmers (68.4%) cultivated beans under irrigation in winter (dry) season and most of them practiced sole cropping. Constraints to high bean seed yield productivity include drought and low soil fertility (31.7%) and deforestation (81.3%) contributed a lot. Farmers (44.6%) implemented afforestation, 32.4% grew early maturing bean varieties, while 20.9% practiced conservation agriculture. Farmers were not involved in variety development as indicated by 91.4% of the respondents. However, farmers preferred determinate plant type (95.7%), creamy taste (61.2%) and high number of pods per plant (47.4%). These farmers’ preferred traits need to be considered in the ongoing bean improvement program(s) to increase adoption rate of improved varieties.

Background: Drought is a major constraint affecting the seed yield of common bean in smallholder farmers’ fields in Malawi. Therefore, there is a need to develop genotypes that can perform well under drought conditions. The study was conducted to assess the variability of common bean genotypes under stressed and optimum soil moisture conditions. Methods: Forty-three common bean genotypes were evaluated under low and optimum soil moisture in a split-plot pot experiment in 2017. Data were collected at flowering stage on five root traits and seed weight. Result: Highly significant (P less than 0.01) differences were observed among the genotypes and the genotype × water treatment interactions for the root traits and seed weight. Water stress increased hypocotyl root number, basal root number and basal root growth angle by 127.1, 11.3 and 46.1% respectively, while hypocotyl root length, basal root whorl number and seed weight were reduced by 7.1, 1.9 and 9.4% respectively. Broad sense heritability and genetic advance (%) was highest for hypocotyl root length. Genotypes CER-78, SAB-560 and SER-125 were considered tolerant to soil moisture stress and should therefore be tested in various drought conditions for release and used for genetic enhancement focusing on root traits and seed yield.