Bean breeding at the University of Guelph: Past and present

Bean breeding and at the University of Guelph: Past and present Examine bean breeding at the University of Guelph, both past and present, conducted by its Department of Plant Agriculture. The common dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) is a staple for >300 million people. Canadian bean production is worth >300M USD annually. Beans are highly nutritious, they contain nutraceuticals and have positive environmental effects through their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen (Hesami and Yoosefzadeh-Najafabadi, 2025). Crop breeding and improved agronomic practices have resulted in 3.8 % per year yield increases in Ontario (Figure 1).