PERFORMANCE OF ELEVEN VARIETIES OF DRY BEANS (Phaseolus vulgaris) OVER TWO SUCCESSIVE SEASONS OF THE HILLSIDES OF JAMAICA

Eleven bean cultivars (Phaseolus vulgaris) were evalueted in the hilly interior of Jamaica for grain yield and yield components during two successive growing seasons of 1980, viz., May - August and September - December. Grain yields were highest in the Spring planted crop ranging from 1.2 to 3.0 t/ha of excellent quality seeds. Seed yields declined considerably in the second planting and ranged from 0.55 to 1.32 t/ha. Black seeded cultivars produced the highest grain yield in both plantings. The impressive yield figures obtained in the first trial could be attributed to favourable weather conditions. However, a serious constraint to "high yields is poor rainfall distribution which could lead to moisture stress and disease conditions as evidenced in the Pall planted crop. Bean Rust and Anthracnose constituted important diseases. Positive linear corrélations were observed btween the number of pods per plant and: a) seeds per pod; b) see yield; and c) plant height whereas number of seeds per pod were negatively correlated with seed size. This suggests that small seedes varieties tend to produce more seeds per pod and a greater number of pods per plant than large seeded varieties. In view of the superior performance of the black seeded varieties over the red-seeded ones in the trial plots, it is recommended that these findings be commercially validated with the ultimate objective of producing black bean for the export market thereby earning vitally needed foreign exchange.