Research Article

Agro-morphological characterization of pole-type common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cultivars in mid-hill of Nepal

1. Dhakal^1* and R. Subedi²

¹Agriculture and Forestry University, Chitwan, Nepal

²Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Lamjung, Nepal

*Corresponding author e-mail: ddhakal.rookie@gmail.com

(Received: 20/08/2025; Revised: 10/11/2025; Accepted: 20/11/2025; Published: 20/12/2025)

ABSTRACT

An experiment was conducted on Pole type cultivars of bean during May-July, 2015 at IAAS, Lamjung, Nepal. RCB design using 7 cultivar as treatments were laid out in 3 replicates. The genotypes used were: LB-31, Madhav, LB-37, Chinese Long, Chaumasa, Trishuli and LB-39. Observations were made on agro-morphological descriptors of bean, namely – Days to seedling emergence, internodal length, number of branches on main stem, length of the petiole, insect damage score at 60^th day, leaf area, seed color, seed length and flower color. 5 plant samples were drawn from net plot of 3.2m constituting 12.5% of total population for measurement of attributes. Chemical fertilizer was used at the rate of N:P₂O₅:K₂O = 4:6:3 kg per ropani, based on a blanket recommendation by national government.  The field with standing crop was intercultured by weeding and earthing up twice over the entire season. Among the cultivars, Chinese Long showed the earliest emergence (5 days) in comparison to LB-39 (7 days) cultivar. In absence of any form of insect management practices, all cultivars showed some form of vegetative damage – average score being 4.05 (with 10 being the maximum in 1-10 scale scoring of foliar damage), and maximum (6.08) damage exhibited by LB-31. Chinese Long’s combination of early emergence, vigorous canopy (large leaves) and relatively low insect damage suggests it is well-suited for rapid establishment and vigorous growth in the mid-hills. In contrast, LB-39’s very long internodes, twining habit and large seeds suggest it is ideal for use as pole-bean.

Keywords: Descriptors, Phenotyping, Leaf Area Index, Growth Determinacy