Improved bean varieties are taking off – but yields aren’t. Why?
Farmer uptake of improved bean varieties should not be the endpoint indicator of success. Low yield improvements in 3 countries, despite significant sowing of improved varieties, point to the need for improved management for farmers to reap benefits
Improved bean varieties are taking off – but yields aren’t. Why?
Farmer uptake of improved bean varieties should not be the endpoint indicator of success. Low yield improvements in 3 countries, despite significant sowing of improved varieties, point to the need for improved management for farmers to reap benefits
Improved bean varieties can increase production, withstand the vagaries of climate change, improve nutrition, and keep pests at bay. Also called modern varieties, or MVs, these beans can keep farmers in business and people well-fed. But a new study shows that despite significant uptake of MVs in four countries, increased production was only found in one.
The findings show that widespread planting of improved beans should not be the final indicator of success for MVs. Continued management and monitoring of seed quality, among other targeted activities, is required for the beneficial traits of better beans to be reaped from farmers’ fields.
Researchers at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and Michigan State University found that, despite strong genetic use of improved bean varieties, in Haiti (77% of beans were MVs), Guatemala (35-40%), and Honduras (26%), yields were largely unchanged, compared to non-improved varieties.
Nicaragua was the only outlier – and it had very low adoption of MVs. Only 10% of the Central American country’s beans were MVs, but yield increased up to 33% where they were planted.
Beans across these countries – and many more in Latin America and Africa – are a critical staple for food and nutritional security.
Older MVs may have lost some of their traits over time due to a lack of consistent post-release management. But new MVs are regularly developed and released to respond to changing agroclimatic conditions, new pests and diseases, and to increase nutritional value and productivity. But regardless of release date, desired traits tied to genetic quality should persist under adequate management conditions.