Increasing Productivity of French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) through Varietal Improvement

French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the most important and nutritious vegetable crop grown worldwide for human consumption. In the North Eastern Region including Assam, it is an important vegetable and is grown in a wide range of agro-climatic conditions ranging from plains to high hills. Being a meat of the poor, the crop is widely grown for green fleshy pods and dry seeds in India. This crop, however, suffers from poor yield in the North Eastern Region. This is mostly due to very old and low-yielding varieties being grown by the farmers. The time therefore demands to introduce some high-yielding, stress-tolerant varieties newly developed elsewhere. In view of this, an investigation was undertaken at the Department of Horticulture, AAU, Jorhat on eighteen (18) French bean genotypes received from the All India Coordinated Research Project on Vegetable crops. The research work involved the conduct of different trials including station trials, zonal trials and multilocation trials all over India. The trials were conducted following a Randomized Block Design with three replications. The observations were recorded on yield, its attributes and the natural incidence of root rot and bacterial blight. In station and zonal trials, among all genotypes, Arka Anup and Arka Subidha were found to be better for green pod yield ranging from 95 – 110 q/ha. The multilocation trials conducted in different national centers exhibited an average pod yield of 149.1 q/ha in Arka Anup and 141.9 q/ha in Arka Subidha. On average, there was a 20 – 25% yield increase over the best check variety ‘Contender’. Arka Anup was a flat poded variety whereas Arka Subidha was a round poded variety. The edible green pods were getting ready for picking at 60 - 70 days after sowing. Field observation on incidence of diseases indicated resistance reaction to root rot and bacterial blight in both these varieties. At the national level also they have been found better and hence notified by the Govt. of India as recommended by the Central Seed Sub Committee for different states of the country covering North, Central and South India. Considering yield performance and other desirable characteristics, extensive cultivation of these varieties may be done in Assam and better-performing states. In view of the yield performance, consumer preference and taste, the varieties are gaining popularity in the state of Assam. They may be used in breeding programmes also for further improvement. The seeds of the varieties are available at IIHR, Bangalore.