Evaluation of Pole-type French bean Variability and Yield in the Mid Hills of Nepal

Abstract

Knowledge of genetic diversity is crucial to assess the variability of genotypes and their potential use in crop improvement programs. The present experiment was conducted at Horticulture Research Station (HRS), Dailekh (1300 masl) for three years during 2016-2018 to study the agro-morphological variability and performance of six genotypes of French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) for pod and seed yield. The genotypes viz; Bhatte, Chaumase, Dhankute Chirrke, WP Con Bean, White OP, and Trishuli were experimented in Randomized Completely Block (RCB) design with four replications. Observations were recorded on 14 qualitative and 12 quantitative traits. Among the qualitative traits, French bean genotypes observed variability w.r.t. stem pigmentation, leaf color, leaflet shape, stem hairiness, flower color, pod color, pod shape, pod cross-section, pod beak position, pod appearance, seed size, seed shape, and seed color. Analysis of variance for quantitative traits showed significant differences among all the genotypes for all the characters studied. Three year mean results showed the genotype Chaumase (35.0 t/ha) followed by Trishuli (28.0 t/ha), WP Con Bean (24.6 t/ha) and White OP (22.9 t/ha) recorded the maximum green pod yield. Similarly, genotypes Chaumase (2.1 t/ha), Trishuli (2.1 t/ha), Dhankute Chirrke (1.44 t/ha) and White OP (1.09 t/ha) were found promising for seed production purpose. The agro-morphological variation observed in growth and pod characters could be utilized in variety improvement programs. Future research work needed to be focused on the further evaluation of these genotypes under different production systems for yield and seed production and to identify traits useful for crop improvement.