GENOTYPE-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION IN THE MULTIPLICATION OF BEAN SEED

An experimental trial was set up over the three-year period 1977–79 to show the influence environment has on bean-seed crops. The work was carried out in two completely different Italian environments: the first, cool and rainy, in the province of Cuneo (Piedmont), the second warm and dry, in that of Trapani (Sicily). The same field plans and the same methods of work and analysis were used in both cases. The result obtained, though difficult to interpret, showed at all events, that a fundamentally hot, dry climate favours the production of good quality seed. The yield, on the other hand, is greatly influenced by the amount of water available for irrigation, above all as far as the runner bean cultivars are concerned.

In fact the dwarf cultivars proved more resistant to water shortage and even "BEA" was found to be very susceptible to moisture conditions in the period before harvesting. The runner cultivar "Bianco di Spagna" is unable to set seed when temperatures are too hot at flowering time.