To investigate the potential of heirloom beans, scientists compared yields of twenty heirloom varieties of beans relative to three common commercial varieties (Eclipse, Lariat and OAC Rex). All the plants were grown on an organic farm in Minnesota. The commercial varieties had the highest yields and produced on average 44 per cent higher yields than the heirlooms. The yields of the heirlooms were, however, highly variable with Dapple Grey, Low’s Champion, Soldier and Kenearly Yellow Eye having yields almost half that of commercial.
The heirlooms had much more genetic variability than commercial strains, and this translated in differences in yields between individual plants. The variability also, however, gives growers the potential to adapt the variety to their own growing conditions and preferences (e.g. short maturity, high yield or certain plant types).
The highest yields from the heirlooms came from Peregion, Lina Sisco's Bird Egg, Jacob's Cattle Gold and Tiger's Eye. Some of these were relatively close to the commercial yields. For example, the yield of Peregion was 90 per cent that of OAC Rex. Given the premium prices obtained for heirloom beans, the researchers concluded that these varieties were economically viable alternatives to commercial beans. It should be noted that Koronis Purple, Steuben Yellow Eye, and Ying Yang also had high yields but less genetic stability.
Source: Yield Stability of Heirloom Dry Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) Cultivars in Midwest Organic Production. Hannah R. Swegarden, Craig C. Sheaffer, Thomas E. Michaels. HortScience. Volume 51. Number 1. Pages: 8-14. 2016.
- Janet Wallace