PABRA’s Breeding Strategy and Achievements through Partnerships
R. Chirwa, M.M. Abang, C.M. Mukankusi and J.C. Rubyogo
International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)-Pan Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA)
Abstract - The common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is a major food crop that pro- Table 2: Bean germplasm evaluated on-station and on-farm in SABRN member
vides an inexpensive source of protein for both rural and urban households in sub- countries
Saharan Africa. Within the Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA), the capac- Country No. of lines Tested
ity of NARS to conduct bean R4D varies from country to country - ranging from a sin- Nurseries ABYT On-farm NPT or DUS
gle scientist working on a range of legume crops in some countries to large multi-
Angola 1011 20 13
disciplinary teams focusing on common bean in other countries. This raises the need
for collaboration through networks, which bring together national bean research DRC-S 437 40 7 1
programs of varying capacity to share germplasm, knowledge, and technical exper- Lesotho 134 15 12
tise. PABRA is one such alliance which coordinates breeding programs in 3 regional Malawi 4336 19 8 9
networks, which
involve CIAT, NARS, Mauritius 62 10 2
and a wide range of Mozambique 29 12 5
public and private South Africa 240 1023
sector stake-
holders. Swaziland 80 36 4
Tanzania-S 33 24 14
PABRA’s breeding Zambia 57 20 16 5
program aims to
Zimbabwe 187 20 38
develop improved
germplasm that Total 6606 1227 107 39
ensures increased
and stable produc-
tion of high quality (Table 2).
beans, and en- Shared breeding responsibilities among partners: Different partners: CIAT-HQ, CIAT-
hances the resil- Regional Networks and NARS including Universities and the private sector breeding
ience of bean growing communities to cope with diverse stresses. Constraints ad- programs play a role in developing bean germplasm for resilience to multiple
dressed are abiotic: drought, lowsoil fertility (lowP, N, AL toxicity, salinity, pH com- stresses within PABRA. The linkages among partners are shown in Fig 1.
plex, etc), flooding; biotic: pests (bean stem maggot, bruchids, bean beetle and
aphid) and Diseases (leaf spot, anthracnose, common bacterial blight, common
bean mosaic virus, common bean mosaic necrotic virus, bacterial brown spot, rust
and root rots); nutritional: lowFe and Zn; and market-related: e.g. niche market
products such as snap beans. Breeding for high levels of resistance to a combina-
tion of biotic and abiotic stresses remains the most appropriate and cost effective
means of managing stress and improving the productivity and stability of bean pro-
duction at smallholder farmer level.
Rationale - Instead of developing bean germplasm for resistance to a specific con-
straint, the breeding program in Africa is focusing on developing germplasm with
resistance to multiple constraints, knowing that at farm level the crop is subjected
to a range of constraints. In addition, farmer and consumer preferences for beans
vary with grain coat color (market class), so the breeding program’s emphasis is on
combining acceptable grain types with resistance to multiple constraints (Table 1).
The market share of the grain types also differs and this is important in priority set- Fig 1. Shared breeding responsibilities among partners
ting. For instance, the market for reds and red mottled accounts for nearly 50% of
the total bean production in eastern, central and southern Africa. ACHIEVEMENTS: Partnership between CIAT and the NARS bean breeding programs
in Africa through the Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA) has resulted in
Breeding Strategy - rational bean programs w assigned the responsibility to lead the development and utilization of many improved bean varieties that greatly con-
ere
in developing multiple resistant bean germplasm for specific market classes on tribute to improving food security owing to their superior characteristic that include
behalf of the networks, based on comparative advantage and the importance of the (a)biotic stress tolerance, improved quality, and high yields. The collaborative ap-
particular market class in their country. Marker assisted selection has been initi- proach facilitates the sharing of knowledge, the exchange of germplasm (Figure 1),
ated for traits where markers are available. Outputs generated by NARS responsible and the dissemination of technologies and methods across national frontiers.
for specific breeding tasks were identified and shared with other NARS. These in- Through the partnerships there are benefits to other countries in the networks with-
cluded introductions, segregating populations, advanced lines, and released varie- out breeding programs. For instance, countries without active breeding programs
ties. Selected materials w contributed to specific regional nurseries that were
ere have released varieties (e.g. Burundi - 3 and Mozambique - 2) through adaptive
distributed across the networks. All NARS w involved in on-station and on-farm
ere testing of advanced lines developed by other members of the network (Table 3) .
germplasm evaluation (typically using PVS) that eventually led to variety releases.
Table 1. Bean market classes, production area, major constraints and proposed breeding program Table 3: The number of released/accepted across several PABRA member countries since 2009
in Africa
Country *No. of released variety % by Country (n =67)
Market class Production Major con- Program- Countries** where the bean Burundi 6 9.0
(ha) straints* Priority types are of high or moderate
importance DR Congo (West) 11 16.6
A1. Red Mot- 740,000 ALS, Anth/RR, Program -1 Kenya, Uganda, DR Congo, DRC –East 14 20.9
tled low P, BSM, Tanzania, Sudan, Malawi, Su- Malawi 3 4.5
drought dan, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Camer- Mozambique 2 3.0
oon, Angola and Mozambique
Rwanda 15 22.4
AII. Reds S. Tanzania 2 3.0
AIIa. Large 350,000 ALS, Anth, low Program-2 Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zim-
South Africa 8 1 1 .
9
Red Kidneys P, BSM babwe, Zambia, Mozambique
Uganda 2 30.
AIIb. Small 670,000 ALS, Anth, / Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Zambia 2 30.
and Medium CBB, low P, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, DR
Zimbabwe 2 30.
Reds BSM, drought Congo, Lesotho, Zimbabwe
Total 67 100
III. Browns 380,000 ALS,anth/CBB, Program-3 Angola, Tanzania, Kenya, Mada- % of the 5 year target (2013) 40.4
IIIa. Yellow RR ,low P, gascar, Sudan, DR Congo, Zam-
*Includes varieties for resilience to stress, nutrition and markets; with a target of 166 varieties;
IIIb. Brown drought bia, Zimbabwe and Lesotho 130 for resilience, 13 for nutrition and 23 for markets
IIIc. Tan
IV. Cream 360,000 ALS,CBB/rust, Program-4 Angola, South Africa, Kenya,
( Pinto, Sug- low P, drought Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
ars, Carioaca) Lesotho, Malawi and Mozambique
V. White
Va. Navy 310,000 Rust, ALS, Program- Ethiopia, South Africa, Malawi,
CBB,BSM 5a Uganda, Tanzania, DR Congo
Vb. Large 220,000 ALS, Anth, low Program- Madagascar, Tanzania, Zambia,
white kidney P, drought 5b South Africa, Zimbabwe, and,
DR Congo
B. Climbers Anth., ALS, RR, Program-6 Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo,
low P, drought Kenya, Ethiopia, Zambia, Tanza-
nia and Malawi.
*ECABREN: Eastern and Central Africa Bean Research Network; SABRN: Southern Africa Bean Research Network; WECABREN: West and Central Africa Bean Research Network
For more information: r.chirwa@cgiar.org