‘VL Bean 2’: A New Early Dwarf Cultivar of Phaseolus vulgaris L. for Green Pods

Abstract

French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is an important vegetable known as green beans, which is widely cultivated during winter in the subtropics and early spring to fall in temperate zones throughout the world. In India, it is grown in the foothills to higher hills (northwestern Himalayan regions) and North Indian plains (subtropical zone) in different seasons of the year. In India, the French bean breeding program was strengthened with the commencement of the All India Coordinated Research Project on Vegetable Crops (AICRP-VC) in 1971. Only a few bushtype cultivars such as VL Bauni Bean 1, Arka Komal, Contender, and Pant Anupama have been released through AICRP-VC for cultivation in Agro-ecological Zones I (temperate zone) of India (Rai et al., 2004). Because of the dwarf plant habit, short duration, and quality pods, ‘Contender’ has been widely cultivated by the Indian farmers of northwestern Himalayan states (Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu, and Kashmir). Hence, in this article, we report the release of ‘VL Bean 2’, a cultivar with high green pod yield and better horticultural traits such as pod color, shape, and length as compared with those of current cultivars, including ‘Contender’, available to Indian farmers. This cultivar may be adapted to other temperate regions of the world having similar climatic conditions.