Localy adapted crop genotypes and organic farming may be the answer to climate change. This is according to the first ever study investigating the impact of drought on yield and seed quality of different common bean genotypes, published in the European Journal of Agronomy. In this paper, scientists from the Czech Institute for Research and Advanced Technologies – CATRIN at Palacký University, together with colleagues from Spain and the USA, summarize the results of a pioneering three-year field experiment in both organic farming and conventional management. They showed that drought and agriculture practices significantly affect both yield and quality of beans, with extreme temperatures being a key factor.
Common bean is an important crop for sustainable food security. With climate change and increasing drought, farmers face a number of challenges in ensuring sufficient production. Selecting appropriate genotypes adapted to climate change, including drought, within different management systems is a viable strategy to mitigate the impacts of such conditions.
“The aim of the study was to evaluate different common bean genotypes – both landraces and commercially available ones – under different environmental conditions, different management systems and irrigation methods to understand how different growing conditions affect their yield and seed quality,” said one of the authors of the paper, Nuria De Diego of CATRIN.
During the three-year field experiment, researchers grew twelve different genotypes under irrigated and rainfed conditions using conventional and organic farming practices. They evaluated plant physiological responses, seed yield and quality parameters and their associations to identify potential biomarkers suitable for identifying resistant genotypes.
“The research has shown that both drought and management significantly affect bean yield and quality, with temperature extremes being a key factor affecting the observed parameters. Under irrigation, organic farming achieved comparable yields to conventional management and improved seed quality under conditions without irrigation. The landrace Arrocina de Álava was found to be drought tolerant with higher seed quality when grown without irrigation. This underlines the importance of landraces for the selection of genotypes resistant to climate change,” the scientist outlined some of the findings of the research.
The study has also confirmed that carbon isotope discrimination in seeds (Δ13C) is a reliable indicator for selecting stress-tolerant genotypes and highlighted the effect of extreme temperatures on seed fat and energy content. It also shows that it is essential to incorporate climate resilience considerations into crop breeding and the selection of agricultural practices.
CATRIN scientists collaborated on the research with colleagues from the University of the Basque Country and Auburn University.