Читать книгу Dry Beans and Pulses Production, Processing, and Nutrition - Группа авторов - Страница 49

Organic dry beans are a high‐value specialty crop of multiple market classes, including black, dark red kidney, and white kidney beans. Dry beans are an appealing option for organic farmers, since consumer demand is strong. The price premium for organic dry beans is 1.5–3 times that of conventionally produced beans. Controlling weeds and insect pests effectively without the use of pesticides is a major challenge for organic producers (Frick et al. 2017). Despite these constraints many larger producers continue to produce high‐quality organic beans but at resulting lower yields. In side‐by‐side studies over three years in Michigan, 36 bean varieties grown under organic production systems averaged 18% lower yields than under conventional systems (Heilig and Kelly 2012).

Currently, organic producers use varieties developed for conventional production systems and some of these may not perform as well under organic production systems. Prior dry bean breeding research suggests that breeding under organic systems is more valuable in some market classes than others. Genetic variability for seed yield under organic vs. conventional showed that for black and navy beans the best lines under organic were also the best performers under conventional (Heilig and Kelly 2012). This is likely because of the goals of conventional breeding programs are beneficial for all producers. For example, traits such as disease or insect resistance, overall productivity, and improved plant architecture are valuable for both conventional and organic producers. Heilig and Kelly (2012) found that in the case of kidney beans the best lines under conventional were not necessarily the best under organic. Therefore, selecting kidney lines under organic conditions would be beneficial to improve germplasm for organic production. Breeding for organic production systems is underway in multiple public breeding programs around the US.