Farmers’ perceptions of navy bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) production constraints, preferred traits, farming systems and their implications on bean breeding:  A case study from South East Lowveld region of Zimbabwe

Abstract

Background: Navy bean is an important legume crop in Zimbabwe. Its production is limited by multiple constraints including biotic, abiotic and socio-economic. However, in the major navy bean-production regions of Zimbabwe, there is no recent study documenting biotic stress management strategies, farmers’ perceived production, and marketing constraints, and cultivar trait preferences. Thus, this study aimed at identifying farmers’ production constraints, preferred traits and cultivars of navy bean, and strategies used to mitigate some of these constraints.Methods: A Participatory Rural Appraisal approach involving transect walks, focus group discussions (FGDs), and formal surveys with semi-structured questionnaires was conducted in four villages of the Lowveld region of Zimbabwe. In each of the four villages, two FGDs (one for men and one for women) were conducted. A total of 176 (75 males and 101 females) navy bean growing households were interviewed. Data from household interviews and FGDs was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists computer package.Results: The most important constraints to navy bean production were drought stress (Females – 86 %, Males – 73 %), heat stress (Females – 58 %, Males – 55 %), power outages (Females – 46 %, Males – 54 %), poor soil fertility (Females – 32 %; Males – 33 %) and susceptibility to pod shattering (Females – 32 %, Males – 43 %). Mitigation strategies included mulching (18 %), ridges (12 %), reduced acreage (11 %), and cultivating to retain more soil moisture (11 %) for drought stress, while irrigating at night (32 %), and adjusting planting dates (29 %) were used to manage heat stress. Farmer-preferred traits included tolerance to drought and heat, early maturing varieties and disease resistance. Marketing constraints included non-payment for produce in hard currency, lack of diversity in terms of off-takers, high inflation, low grain producer price, delayed payment and breach of contract by contractors. Conclusion: There will be increased adoption of improved navy bean cultivars if breeding programs address the aforementioned constraints and consider farmer-preferred traits when developing new cultivars. Breeders should work closely with extension officers to ensure that cultivars released are cultivated with appropriate agronomic packages for increased productivity and high adoption.

Identification of genomic regions of dry bean (Phaseolus vulgarisL.) associated with agronomic and physiological traits under drought stressed and well-watered conditions using genome-wide association study

“…A total of 185 dry bean genotypes constituted the Andean and Mesoamerican diversity panel (AMDP). The AMDP comprised of landrace collections (25), released cultivars (18) and elite breeding lines (142) of different market classes such as sugars, calimas, small whites, large whites and large red kidneys (S1 Table ). The genotypes were sourced from public and private breeding institutions located in different geographic regions.…”

“…As reported by Mutari et al [25], bean farmers in Zimbabwe have been using different mitigation strategies to minimize grain yield losses due to terminal drought stress. These strategies include soil mulching, ridging, cultivating the soil to retain more moisture and reducing the area under the bean crop.…”

Seed yield improvement in navy bean: Registration of ‘ND Polar’

“…Production agriculture in North Dakota largely occurs under rainfed conditions and the growing season is very short (∼90-110 days). Navy bean, like other market classes, requires effective rainfall or regular irrigation for successful crop production (McKenzie, 1989;Mutari et al, 2021). Excessive rainfall increases the risks of flooding stress and soil waterlogging, which are common constraints in the dry bean industry worldwide, particularly in the northern production regions of the United States (Knodel et al, 2016(Knodel et al, , 2021Soltani et al, 2017Soltani et al, , 2018.…”