Revival and Evaluation of the Traits of the Bean Germplasm Collection of the Khomein Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and Assessment of Their Sensitivity to the Two-Spotted Spider Mite (Tetranychus urticae)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Behroz Asadi ¹

Sedighe Ashtari ²

¹ Crop and Horticultural Science Research Department, Markazi Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center Research and Education Center, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization AREEO, Arak, Iran

² Plant Protection Research Department, Markazi Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization, AREEO, Arak, Iran

10.22067/ijpr.2026.96585.1123

Abstract

Introduction
Given the projected population of nine billion by the year 2050, and despite the increase in crop yields, concerns about food security still remain. Among various agricultural crops, legumes play a significant role in providing human food. These plants have high nutritional value and are the most important food source rich in protein (11 to 32 percent) (Schoonhoven & Voysest, 1991). An appropriate combination of legume proteins with cereals can alleviate malnutrition and amino acid deficiencies.

Materials and Methods
To regenerate and evaluate certain traits of the accessions in the bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) collection of the Khomein Bean Research and Education Center, an experiment was conducted over three years. A total of 720 bean accessions of pinto, red, and white types from the Khomein bean collection were planted using an augmented design. The number of blocks varied each year depending on the number of planted accessions: in the first year, the accessions were planted in 19 blocks; in the second year, in 14 blocks; and in the third year, in 12 experimental blocks. Each spring, after land preparation, furrows and ridges were created at 50-cm intervals, and the seeds of each genotype were planted on two rows of two meters. Plant spacing within the rows was set at 50 cm, and one unplanted row was considered between each experimental plot. To determine block uniformity during data analysis, three check varieties were used: the pinto bean cultivar ‘Kousha’, the red bean ‘Ofogh’, and the white bean ‘Dorsa’. All required agronomic practices—including irrigation, weed control, pest and disease management were applied uniformly across all blocks. Data were recorded for days to maturity, plant type, yield, and hundred-seed weight. Lines with a visual damage scale of less than 2.5 were considered resistant; those rated 2.5–3.7 as moderately resistant; 3.7–4.6 as moderately susceptible; and 4.6–6 as susceptible. For quantitative traits, descriptive statistics, including arithmetic mean, dispersion, range, variance, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation were estimated. Excel and SPSS software were used for data recording, analysis of variance, and chart preparation.

Results and Discussion
The results showed that the genotypes under study exhibited variation for the measured traits. The greatest amount of variation observed during the three years was related to grain yield, followed by hundred-seed weight. One of the main objectives of establishing gene banks and collections is the conservation of plant genetic resources and the utilization of storable materials in breeding programs through the use of their desirable genes to increase production, either directly or indirectly, under various biotic and abiotic stresses. For selecting desirable bean accessions, traits such as yield, earliness, marketability, and plant growth habit are of great importance. Based on the seed yield and maturity period of the genotypes over the three years of the experiment, a biplot of these two traits was used (Figures 1 to 3), and the accessions with above-average yield and early maturity were selected. The characteristics of the selected genotypes for each year are presented in Tables 8 to 10. The greatest amount of variation in common bean has been reported for number of pods per plant, yield, and hundred-seed weight, and this variation contributes the most to the development of high-yielding cultivars. In addition, pod number per plant has high heritability, and this trait is influenced by factors such as the number and size of leaves on the plant. Because of its positive correlation with yield, it should be considered a key criterion when selecting high-yielding plants (Dargahi et al., 2008). Similarly, Ashtari et al. (2020), in their evaluation of the tolerance of several promising bean lines to the two-spotted spider mite under greenhouse and field conditions, concluded that the Dadfar cultivar and line 31286 exhibited higher resistance indices compared with the other genotypes, and they recommended these genotypes for cultivation in the region. These findings indicate that it is possible to identify mite-tolerant genotypes within bean populations, and that this trait can be utilized to reduce dependence on chemical pesticides.

Conclusions
Based on the results obtained from this project during the restoration and evaluation of part of the accessions in the bean collection of the Khomein Bean Research and Education Campus, a total of 64 accessions with above-average yield and early maturity were selected over the three years of the project. These selected accessions will undergo further detailed evaluations.

Keywords

Early maturity

Field experiment

Genetic diversity

Genotype

Seed yield

Subjects

• Breeding

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Authors retain the copyright. This is an open access article distributed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0)

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