Varietal Examination of Kidney Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

Background: Due to the importance of kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) as a cash crop and its consumption as pulse which is a basic component of a typical Nepalese meal for its nutritional value, the area under cultivation has been increasing over the years. This crop is widely grown for both dry grain (pulse) and green pod vegetable purposes, even though only one kidney bean variety, PDR-14 has been registered for cultivation by the Grain Legumes Research Program (GLRP) under the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC). Hence, there are very limited varietal choices available to the farmers of Nepal. Methods: In the years from 2015/16 to 2018/19, the coordinated varietal trials (CVTs) were conducted under a randomized complete block design (RCBD) at GLRP and its multi-location trial sites. Moreover, non-replicated Coordinated Farmers’ Field Trials (CFFTs) were carried out from 2016/17 to 2024/25 in the farmers’ fields. Result: Among the eight varieties evaluated in the CVTs, only two varieties viz., Utkarsh and Arun-2, were identified as promising due to their superior yield performance and stability across locations and years. The variety Utkarsh exhibited days to flowering of 58 days, days to maturity of 118 days, plant height of 61.5 cm, pods per plant of 22.4, seeds per pod of 4.4, 100-seed weight of 32.0 g and grain yield of 1,458 kg ha-1. Similarly, Arun-2 required 53 days and 115 days to flowering and maturing, respectively, with the 63.1 cm plant height, 20 pods per plant, 4.1 seeds per pod, 38.1 g hundred-seed weight and 1,341 kg ha-1 grain yield. Therefore, these two promising varieties are expected to enhance productivity, provide varietal options and improve farmers income in Nepal.