RCUK-CIAT Newton Fund: Physiological characterization of heat-tolerant bean genotypes in simulated future environments

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3.4 million Colombians are employed in primary agricultural production in rural areas on typical wages of less than four dollars per day. Common beans are a major source of protein and mineral nutrition in the diets of the rural poor, but climate vulnerabilities and the post-conflict transition from illicit to food crops mean that rapid introduction of climate-resilient bean varieties to new areas and growers are required.This study will focus on heat tolerance, as rising temperatures have been predicted to impact very significantly on the areas of Colombia suitable for bean cultivation. A small number of highly heat tolerant bean genotypes have been identified in previous breeding work, and it is proposed to breed the heat tolerance trait from these primary sources into varieties with all the other characteristics needed for widespread acceptance and uptake. At present, the principal means to combine heat tolerance with other traits is via selection of breeding lines in field sites where stressful heat thresholds are normally reached. This process takes years and heat tolerance can be masked by other environmental factors simultaneously at play in the selection environment. The research proposed here involves detailed assessments of the growth and development of existing heat tolerant and susceptible beans under controlled conditions simulating future climates in target regions of Colombia including elevated carbon dioxide levels. By pinpointing in detail the vulnerabilities of susceptible lines and demonstrating mechanisms of tolerance that avoid yield losses, it will be possible in the future to breed for heat tolerance using better targeted selection criteria that will result in shorter breeding cycles and more rapid delivery of climate-smart bean varieties.As the technologies for breeding new heat-tolerant varieties is developed, the study will also examine the potential economic impact of adoption of beans as a crop in new areas and by new growers, using socio-economic data on current and projected land use, food supply and price in a number of scenarios. It will further appraise the potential economic value of heat-tolerant bean varieties and the rate of return on the underpinning research under a range of adoption scenarios.The alignment of climate and crop science aimed at more effective breeding for future climates with a socio-economic study of the conditions under which climate-resilient bean varieties can reap significant societal return on investment affords opportunities for the research agenda to be refined to maximise its real-world impact.