- Author: Michelle Leinfelder-Miles
- Author: Sarah Light
- Author: Rachael Long
We are eager to host the UC Dry Bean Field Day once again! Please mark your calendars and join us on Tuesday, August 31, 2021 from 9:00am to 11:30am at UC Davis. The field day will feature presentations from UC Davis and UC Cooperative Extension researchers. The agenda is below, and a downloadable version is available at the bottom of this post.
We are mindful of the on-going Covid-19 pandemic and are following safety precautions to keep everyone safe. Therefore, pre-registration for the event is required. There is no registration fee, but the registration survey will help us in the event there is a need for contact tracing. Please visit https://tinyurl.com/ucbean21 to register. Thank you for your cooperation, and we look forward to seeing you later this month.
Agenda:
9:00 am General Introduction, Paul Gepts, UC Davis
9:10 am Improving Both Productivity and Nutritional Quality in Beans, Christine Diepenbrock, UC Davis
9:20 am Garbanzo Drought Tolerance Genetic Study, Claire Spickermann, UC Davis
9:30 am Applying Novel Sensor Technology to Studying Lygus Interactions in Lima Bean, Kimberly Gibson, UC Davis
9:40 am Green cotyledon and Growth Vigor Research, Varma Penmetsa, UC Davis
9:50 am Lima Bean Breeding and Cooperative Dry Bean Nursery, Antonia Palkovic, UC Davis
10:00am Dry Bean Research Update: Seed Treatments, Plant Growth Regulators, USDA Garbanzo Variety Trials, Rachael Long UC Cooperative Extension
10:15am Nitrogen Fertility in Common Beans following Whole Orchard Recycling, Michelle Leinfelder-Miles, UC Cooperative Extension
10:30am Travel to Agronomy Field Headquarters
10:40am Release of New Bean Varieties with Heirloom-like Seed Patterns, BCMV Resistance, and Improved Yields, Travis Parker, UC Davis
10:50am Post-emergence Herbicide Options for Broadleaf Weed Control in Blackeye-beans, Jose Luiz Carvalho de Souza Dias, UC Cooperative Extension
11:00am UC Blackeye Variety Trial Updates, Sarah Light, UC Cooperative Extension and Bao-Lam Huynh, UC Riverside
11:10am Travel to Campbell Tract Field
11:20am Physiological Breeding for Drought Resilience in Common Bean, Tom Buckley, UC Davis
2021 UC Dry Bean Field Day Agenda
- Author: Michelle Leinfelder-Miles
- Author: Nick Clark
The California Dry Bean Advisory Board is requesting applied research proposals for 2021. This commodity-based research request is sponsored by the California Dry Bean Marketing Order, under the guidance of CDFA (CA Dept Food & Ag). The Board has supported applied research by University programs for many years.
Attached, please find the grant application as well as a list of applied research priorities developed by the Dry Bean Advisory Board for 2021. In particular, the board is looking for projects in food science with developing new products for consumers, using California beans.
For current information on dry bean production in California as well as past reports funded by the board, see the Dry Bean webpage on the Agronomy Research and Information Center site. Previously funded research reports are available from this database.
Please share this call for proposals with colleagues and others who might be interested in dry bean research. Proposals are due by Friday, February 5, 2021.
Progress reports for projects funded by the dry bean industry in 2020 will also be due Friday, February 5, 2021. Attached is an example progress report.
Please submit proposals and final reports electronically to: Michelle Leinfelder-Miles, mmleinfeldermiles@ucanr.edu. The final report will be uploaded in the UC ANR Dry Bean publication database referenced above.
If you have any questions, please contact Michelle Leinfelder-Miles or Nick Clark, neclark@ucanr.edu, UCCE Farm Advisors and UC ANR Co-Liaisons, CA Dry Bean Advisory Board.
- Author: Rachael Freeman Long
- Author: Amber Vinchesi-Vahl
A question came up about managing root-knot nematodes in processing tomato and lima bean rotations. Root-knot nematodes are tiny worm-like soil dwelling pests that cause root galling on plant roots, resulting in significant yield and quality losses. Symptoms of severe root-knot infestations include patches of chlorotic, stunted, necrotic, or wilted plants. These nematodes also predispose plants to other soilborne pathogens that cause root rot and wilt diseases. For example, a bean variety resistant to infection by the Fusarium wilt pathogen will become susceptible to this disease if infected with root-knot nematodes.
What is the link between nematodes in tomatoes and limas? Dr. Phil Roberts, Nematologist at UC Riverside shared the following response:
There are several root-knot nematode species and they differ in their response to resistance in tomato and various bean crops. Most common in our Sacramento Valley area are Meloidogyne incognita and M. javanica. These nematodes are normally controlled by Mi-1 gene based resistant tomatoes, but there are resistance-breaking populations so that could be the reason for the infection on tomato (unless the tomatoes grown were not actually resistant). A further possibility is that the species is M. hapla, which is not controlled by the tomato resistance. M. hapla tends to induce smaller pearl-like galls on tomato roots and is not common in the Sacramento and northern San Joaquin Valleys.
As to rotating with lima beans, limas are susceptible to these root-knot species but there are resistant varieties available. Beja Flor baby lima has strong root-knot resistance. It was bred to contain three resistance genes that do a good job of blocking M. incognita and M. javanica. It yields well with the caveat that Steve Temple (former UCCE legume specialist) used to remark that it is more Lygus bug susceptible than some varieties, so if a grower went with UC Beja Flor they would need to keep up on the Lygus management. UC Luna baby lima has no root knot resistance. Other lines carrying M. incognita (but not M. javanica) resistance are the large limas White Ventura N and UC92.
If root-knot nematodes are present in a field with a history of Fusarium wilt, choose varieties that are resistant to root-knot nematodes as well as to the particular Fusarium wilt race present when possible. Another option is to rotate with root-knot nematode resistant cowpeas (blackeyes) instead of limas. Based on host-range tests, some varieties of cowpea have more root-knot nematode resistance than tomato. For example, some root-knot nematode races are virulent and highly pathogenic to Mi-1 gene based resistant tomatoes but not to nematode resistant cowpeas.
- Author: Michelle Leinfelder-Miles
- Author: Rachael Freeman Long
Last week, I visited a baby lima field in the southwest part of San Joaquin County that had overall poor pod set. Pods were filling lower in the canopy, but flowers had not set higher on the plants. The field, which was planted in late-June/early-July had an excellent stand, and ostensibly, good fertility and moisture status (Figure 1). There were two possible reasons for the poor pod set that immediately came to mind: 1) lygus damage and 2) heat stress.
I checked data from the CIMIS stations nearest to this field, which are the Brentwood and Manteca stations. Between May 1st and August 31st, the Brentwood station recorded 16 days with a temperature over 100°F, and the Manteca station recorded 9 days over 100°F. Most notably, the heatwave in mid-August struck at perfectly wrong timing. This field was about 50 days after planting, which is generally the prime time for bean flowering. The heatwave brought daytime temperatures over 105°F and nighttime temperatures that barely, if at all, dropped below 70°F. In fact, it is the high nighttime temperatures that will impair pod development by hindering pollen movement and rendering it sterile. This is not just the case for limas; it can happen with other dry beans, as shown by Rachael Long in this blog post from a couple weeks ago. Had the heatwave occurred earlier in the summer, it could have caused a split set, which is not desirable. The mid-August timing, however, means that day length is now too short for further pod development, and yield will likely be lower than expected.
Naturally, one should ask what would be considered a ‘high' nighttime temperature? Rachael remembers having a conversation roughly 20 years ago with UC dry bean breeder of that time, Steve Temple, who said that nighttime temperatures above 68°F will cause poor pod set. This is corroborated by recent work out of the University of Delaware that indicates nighttime temperatures of roughly 70°F impairing pod set. CIMIS recorded nighttime temperatures in that range. The grower indicated that some nights stayed closer to 80°F, which is the temperature at which breeders screen varieties for heat tolerance.
So, what can a grower do during a heatwave? Obviously, we can't control the weather, but it's important to ensure that beans are not moisture-stressed at bloom, and especially not when bloom occurs during a heatwave. Check the top 12 to 24 inches of the soil profile, and irrigate if the soil is dry. If in doubt about how much water is needed, check the reference evapotranspiration (ETo) and irrigate to replace at least 120 percent of your daily ETo. Daily August ETo in the San Joaquin Valley ranges from 0.2 to 0.3 inches per day, so growers would want to apply 120 percent of that amount. In the field that I visited, the crop looked very healthy and non-stressed, so there is no clear suggestion for a management practice that could have saved the set during our recent heatwave.
For more information on lima bean production in California, please see the UC production manual.
- Author: Rachael Freeman Long
Have you ever wondered about this damage to garbanzo beans where there's a hole clipped in the pod and the seed is missing (see photo)? In this case, the damage is from pesky ground squirrels that were foraging in and around our garbanzo research plots at UC Davis this spring. However, other culprits could include field mice or voles, rats, and pod borers such as corn earworm. If you suspect caterpillar worm pests, you should be able to find them easily enough in the plant canopy. Sometimes corn earworms move from corn fields into garbanzos, so watch for infestations from nearby corn fields. Field mammals are more elusive, though ground squirrels are active during the day and easy to spot.
Generally, garbanzos have few pests because the plants (including seed pods) are covered with tiny glands that secrete acids that help repel pests. These acids are strong enough to cause skin rashes and damage clothing. However, ground squirrels don't seem bothered at all by these plant acids as they thrived on our garbanzo seeds, green and dried alike! Looking back, we should have paid more attention to where the field trial was located, avoiding places where ground squirrels thrive, such as a nearby ditch bank. We also should have controlled them as soon as they were active.
Ground Squirrel Control. Various methods can be used to control ground squirrels around fields, including fumigation, trapping, and toxic baits. Of critical importance is the timing for control. Effective management depends heavily on understanding the unique life cycle and behavior of the California ground squirrel. Baiting with treated grain is effective in summer and fall because squirrels primarily feed on seeds during this period. Burrow fumigation is most effective in spring, when moist soil helps seal gasses in the burrow system. Fumigating at this time is also more effective in reducing ground squirrel numbers since squirrels die before they can reproduce. More information on ground squirrel management can be found on the UC IPM website for ground squirrel control at http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7438.html.