Journal of Biology, Agriculture and Healthcare www.iiste.

org
ISSN 2224-3208 (Paper) ISSN 2225-093X (Online)
Vol.4, No.17, 2014

Evaluation of Common Bean [Phaseolus Vulgaris (L.)] Varieties,

for Yield and Yield Components
Tekle Yoseph* Getachew Gashaw Wondewosen Shiferaw Tibebu Simon Ermias Mekonnen3
Southern Agricultural Research Institute, Jinka Agricultural Research Center, Jinka, Ethiopia

Abstract
A field experiment was conducted on research field of Jinka Agricultural Center in South Omo Zone of Southern
Ethiopia using thirteen improved common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris (L.)) varieties and one local check were used
under rain fed condition in 2008. The objective of the study was to select the best performing common bean
varieties that will increase productivity and production of common in the target areas. The treatments involved
were thirteen improved varieties of common bean (Dark Red Kidney (DRK) Bean, Omo-95, Awash-1,
Granscope, Roba, Argene, Chore, Ebaya, Awash Melka, Dinkinesh, SNNPR-1-20, Melka Dima and Nasir) and
local check. The experiment was carried out using a randomized complete block design /RCBD/ with three
replications at Jinka in 2008. The result of analysis of variance showed that both of the phenological parameters
studied were significantly affected by varieties. In this study, there were significant variations observed among
the common bean varieties for all the yield and yield components except number of seeds per pod. Grain yield
advantages of 66.11%, 60.53%, and 55.55%, were obtained from the improved varieties Dinkinesh, SNNPR-1-
20, Ebaya and Awash-1, respectively over the local check in this study. The effect of varieties on grain yield was
significant and the best performing varieties of common bean namely Dinkinesh (2.1478 t ha-1) and SNNPR-1-
20 (1.9511 t ha-1) would be recommended for the specific community and its vicinity even though further study
should be carried out including a number of recently released varieties for improved common bean production.
Keywords: Common Bean, Phenological Parameters, Yield Components, Varieties, Yield

1. Introduction
The common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the most important food legume in the world [1]. It is the most
important food legume in Latin America and East and Southern Africa. Common bean is a traditional crop of the
neotropics, where it was domesticated several thousand years ago [2]. Though the total world production of the
common bean could not be calculated with certainty due to confusion with other legumes in some of the data,
but estimated between 11 and 12 million tons [3]. The total common bean production in sub-Saharan Africa is
around 3.5 metric tons with 62% of production in East African countries of Burundi, DR Congo, Ethiopia,
Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, making this the most important region for the crop within the African
continent [4]. The East African highlands are a region of important common bean production and high varietal
diversity for the crop [5].
Common bean is the most important grain legume for human consumption [6]. Given that most protein
consumed by the poor is from plant sources, being protein-rich, beans play an especially significant role in the
human diet. Although far less important than cereals as a source of calories, beans of supply a significant
proportion of carbohydrates [7]. Like other legumes, they are also a key source of minerals; especially iron [8].
Common bean is an important income source; its straw serves as feed for livestock, and also improves soil
fertility by its virtue of nitrogen fixation in the cropping system. Although the potential yield of beans is as high
as 5 tons ha-1 [9].
In Ethiopia, generally legumes are the major sources of protein where common bean accounts for the
largest proportion next to faba bean and field pea [10, 11]. It is one of the major grain legumes widely cultivated
and grown as source of protein and cash by smallholder farmers by the smallholder farmers in the Southern
Ethiopia [12]. Even if its production is concentrated at low land areas; but the extent of production of common
bean in the target area especially in South Omo Zone is with the use of farmers’ variety rather than the improved
varieties so far. The lack of the improved varieties of common bean is the bottle neck problem that aggravates
for the lower yield of the common bean in the study area. The lack of improved varieties is one of the top
problems for low yield of common bean [13]. Therefore, there is need to introduce the improved common bean
varieties to the target area is paramount important to come up with improved productivity and production of
common bean in the study area. To this end, this research is initiated with the objective of selecting the best
performing common bean varieties in the study area.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. The Treatments, the Study Area and Experimental Design
The experiment was conducted at research farm of Jinka Agricultural Research Center located 729 kms South
West of the capital Addis Ababa at E 360 33’ 02.7” Longitude and N 050 46’ 52.0” Latitude and at an altitude of
1383 meters above sea level. The long term weather data for the center revealed that the maximum and minimum

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Journal of Biology, Agriculture and Healthcare www.iiste.org
ISSN 2224-3208 (Paper) ISSN 2225-093X (Online)
Vol.4, No.17, 2014

monthly average temperature of the main center is 27.55 0C and 16.550C, respectively; whereas, the maximum
and minimum monthly average temperature of the growing period was 26.610C and 16.940C, respectively. The
long term rainfall data for the area revealed that the mean annual rainfall of the area is 1274.67 mm; while the
mean monthly rainfall of the area for the growing season was 130.38 mm. The experiment was conducted during
(April to July, 2008) under rain fed condition.
2.2. Treatments and Experimental Design
The treatments involved were thirteen improved varieties of common bean (Dark Red Kidney (DRK) Bean,
Omo-95, Awash-1, Granscope, Roba, Argene, Chore, Ebaya, Awash Melka, Dinkinesh, SNNPR-1-20, Melka
Dima and Nasir) and the local check. The experiment consisted of 14 treatments with a total of 42 plots. The
field experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Common
bean was sown on April 8, 2008 in twelve rows per plot with spacing of 40 cm between rows and 10 cm between
plants within a row with gross plot area of 24 m2.
2.3. Data collection
Phenological Parameters
Phenological parameters such as days to flowering and days to maturity were recorded. Days to flowering was
recorded by counting the number of days after emergence when 50% of the plants per plot had the first open
flower. Days to maturity was recorded when 90% of pods matured per plot.
Grain Yield and Yield Components
Six central rows were harvested for determination of grain yield. Grain yield was adjusted to 12.5% moisture
content. Five plants were randomly selected from the six central rows to determine yield and yield components,
which consisted of number of pods per plant and number of seeds per pod. Pod number per plant was determined
by counting pods of the five randomly selected plants while number of seeds per pod was recorded by counting
the total number of seeds in a pod from ten randomly sampled pods taken from the five randomly selected plants.
Seed weight was determined by taking a random sample of 1000 seeds and adjusted them to 12.5% moisture
content.
2.4. Statistical Analysis
All the agronomic data were recorded and being subjected to analysis using the SAS statistical software [14].
The analysis of variance was also performed using the GLM procedure of SAS Statistical Software [14]. Effects
were considered significant in all statistical calculations if the P-values were < 0.05. Means were separated using
Fisher’s Least Significant Difference (LSD) test.

3. Results and Discussion

The result of analysis of variance depicted that, days to flowering and days to maturity were significantly (P <
0.001) affected due to varieties (Table 1). This indicates that there exists a linear response of the studied
phenological parameters to varieties.
The result of analysis of variance for mean squares revealed that, number of pods per plant was
significantly (P < 0.05) affected by varieties (Table 1). The maximum and minimum number of pods plant-1 of
(24.00) and (8.333) were noted for the varieties Dinkinesh and Melka Dima, respectively (Table 2). In this study,
number of seeds pod-1 was not significantly affected due to varieties (Table 1). The maximum and minimum
number of seeds pod-1 of (6.4) and (4.6) were noted for the varieties Dinkinesh and Dark Red Kidney /DRK/
bean, respectively (Table 2). From the above findings, it could be concluded that the maximum number of pods
per plant and the highest number of seeds per pod resulted in the maximum grain yield of (2.1478 t ha-1) for the
common bean variety Dinkinesh.
In this experiment, grain yield of common bean was significantly (P < 0.01) affected by varieties (Table
1). This finding agrees with the previous findings reported [12].
The highest grain yield of (2.1478 t ha-1) was recorded for the variety Dinkinesh and the least grain
yield of (0.7278 t ha-1) was noted for the local check (Table 2). The grain yield advantages of 66.11%, 60.53%,
and 56.55% were obtained from the improved varieties Dinkinesh, SNNPR-1-20, Ebaya and Awash-1,
respectively over the local check in this study.

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Journal of Biology, Agriculture and Healthcare www.iiste.org
ISSN 2224-3208 (Paper) ISSN 2225-093X (Online)
Vol.4, No.17, 2014

Table 1: Mean Square Values for Crop Phenology, Yield and Yield Components of Common Bean as Influenced
by Variety at Jinka, in 2008.
Source DF Days to Days to Pods Seeds Grain Yield
Flowering Maturity (Plant-1) (Pod-1) (t ha-1)
ns
Replication (R) 2 5.167ns 22.167 136.580** 9.060** 0.053ns
Variety (Var.) 13 79.634*** 161.569*** 49.165* 0.569ns 0.3930**
Error a 26 6.397 8.679 17.183 1.0579 0.1469
*, ** and *** indicate significance at P< 0.05, P< 0.01 and P< 0.001, respectively and 'ns' indicate non
significant

Table 2: Crop Phenology, Yield and Yield Components of Common Bean as Affected by Variety at Jinka, in
2008.
Treatments Days toDays to Maturity Pods Seeds Grain
Flowering (Plant-1) (Pod-1) Yield
(t ha-1)
Variety (Var.)
DARK RED KIDNEY BEAN54.333b 92.00bcde 11.40bc 4.6000a 1.3716d
(DRK)
OMO-95 48.00cd 97.00b 11.067bc 5.0667a 1.2736bcd
AWASH-1 50.00bc 94.00bcde 14.933bc 5.2667a 1.6753abc
GRANSCOPE 50.00bc 95.333bcd 14.600bc 5.5333a 1.0638cd
ROBA 50.00bc 95.333bcd 11.867bc 5.6000a 1.4104abcd
ARGENE 45.00de 92.333bcde 16.800ab 5.5333a 1.4744abc
CHORE 44.00de 90.333cde 13.133bc 5.5333a 1.5536abc
EBAYA 46.00cde 94.000bcde 17.133ab 5.3333a 1.8440ab
AWASH MELKA 50.00bc 96.000bc 14.267bc 5.2667a 1.2444bcd
DINKINESH 43.00e 91.667bcde 24.000a 6.4000a 2.1478a
SNNPR-1-20 44.00de 92.333bcde 10.400bc 5.9333a 1.9511ab
MELKA DIMA 43.00e 90.000de 8.333c 5.0667a 1.4042abcd
NASIR 43.00e 89.000e 10.133bc 5.6000a 1.4931abc
LOCAL CHECK 61.00a 119.000a 9.733bc 5.8667a 0.7278d
LSD 0.05 4.25 4.94 6.95 NS 0.64
CV% 5.27 3.11 30.90 18.79 26.01
Note: Means with the same letters within the columns are not significantly different
at P <0.05.

4. Summary and Conclusion

Production of common bean by introducing the improved and high yielding varieties could make an important
contribution to increase agricultural production and productivity in areas like Jinka where there is low practice of
using improved varieties of common bean. To this end, using the improved common varieties could be one of
the alternatives to improve productivity by small farmers. However, production of common bean using the
improved varieties is not yet introduced and studied in the target area. Thus, this research work is initiated to
investigate the impact of improved varieties on the performance of common bean.
Study on variety was conducted at Jinka under rain fed condition in 2008. The objective of the study
was to select the best performing varieties that will improve common production. The experiment was carried
out using the randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications at Jinka in 2008. Treatments
involved in this experiment were thirteen improved common bean varieties and one local check.
The result of analysis of variance showed that both of the phenological parameters studied were
significantly affected by varieties. In this study, there were significant variations observed among the common
bean varieties for all the yield and yield components except number of seeds per pod. The effect of varieties on
grain yield was significant and the best performing varieties of common bean namely Dinkinesh (2.1478 t ha-1)
or SNNPR-1-20 (1.9511 t ha-1) would be recommended for the specific community and its vicinity even though
further study should be carried out including a number of recently released varieties for improved common bean
production in the target area and also to put the recommendation on strong basis.

References
[1] . CIAT, (2001). Annual report, Strategies developedfor management of diseases and pests in bean based
cropping systems. (Output 3) Genetic resistance to disease. CIAT. Cali.Colombia.

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Journal of Biology, Agriculture and Healthcare www.iiste.org
ISSN 2224-3208 (Paper) ISSN 2225-093X (Online)
Vol.4, No.17, 2014

[2]. Freytag GF; Debouck DG. 2002. Taxonomy, distribution and ecology of the genus Phaseolus
(Leguminosae–Papilionoideae) in North America, Mexico and Central America. Sida, Botanical
Miscellany23.Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Fort Worth, TX, USA. 300 p.
[3]. FAO.(2006). FAOSTAT:FAOStatistical Databases. Availableonlineat: http://faostat.fao.org/
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[7]. FAO.(2001). Perfilesnutri- cionalesporpaíses.Nicaragua. Availableonlineat: ftp://ftp.fao.
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[8]. Graham,R.D.,Welch,R.M.,Saunders, D.A.,Ortiz-Monasterio,I.,Bouis, H.E.,Bonierbale,M.,etal.(2007).
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[11]. CSA. 2011. Agricultural sample survey 2010/2011 (2003 E.C.). Report on area and production of major
crops. Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
[12]. Fekadu Gurmu 2013. Assessment of Farmers’ Criteria for Common Bean Variety Selection: The case of
Umbullo Watershed in Sidama Zone of the Southern Region of Ethiopia. Ethiopian e -journal for research and
innovation foresight Vol 5, No 2 (2013) ‐PP (4-13).
[13]. Fekadu Gurmu. 2007. Participatory Varietal Selection of Haricot Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) Varieties in
Umbullo Wacho and Beresa Watersheds in the Southern Region. In: Operational Research and Capacity
Building for Food Security and Sustainable Livelihoods. Proceedings of Irish Aid Supported Operational
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[14]. SAS (2007) Statistical Analysis Systems SAS/STAT user’s guide Version 9.1 Cary NC: SAS Institute Inc.
USA

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