Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the most important legume for human consumption worldwide and an important source of vegetable protein, minerals, antioxidants, and bioactive compounds. The N₂-fixation capacity of this crop reduces its demand for synthetic N fertilizer application to increase yield and quality. Fertilization, yield, and quality of common bean may be optimised by several other agronomic practices such as irrigation, rhizobia application, sowing density, etc. Taking this into consideration, a systematic review integrated with a bibliometric analysis of several agronomic practices that increase common bean yield and quality was conducted, based on the literature published during 1971–2021. A total of 250 publications were found dealing with breeding (n = 61), sowing density and season (n = 14), irrigation (n = 36), fertilization (n = 27), intercropping (n = 12), soilless culture (n = 5), tillage (n = 7), rhizobia application (n = 36), biostimulant/biofertilizer application (n = 21), disease management (n = 15), pest management (n = 2) and weed management (n = 14). The leading research production sites were Asia and South America, whereas from the Australian continent, only four papers were identified as relevant. The keyword co-occurrence network analyses revealed that the main topics addressed in relation to common bean yield in the scientific literature related to that of “pod”, “grain”, “growth”, “cultivar” and “genotype”, followed by “soil”, “nitrogen”, “inoculation”, “rhizobia”, “environment”, and “irrigation”. Limited international collaboration among scientists was found, and most reported research was from Brazil. Moreover, there is a complete lack in interdisciplinary interactions. Breeding for increased yield and selection of genotypes adapted to semi-arid environmental conditions combined with the suitable sowing densities are important agronomic practices affecting productivity of common bean. Application of fertilizers and irrigation practices adjusted to the needs of the plants according to the developmental stage and selection of the appropriate tillage system are also of high importance to increase common bean yield and yield qualities. Reducing N-fertilization via improved N-fixation through rhizobia inoculation and/or biostimulants application appeared as a main consideration to optimise crop performance and sustainable management of this crop. Disease and weed management practices appear neglected areas of research attention, including integrated pest management.

Tropospheric ozone (O ₃ ) is an air pollutant and phytotoxic stressor that impairs plant physiology and causes chlorotic and necrotic lesions on leaves. While shoot responses are well characterized, the role of root in plant tolerance to O ₃ is not elucidated yet. Here, the O ₃ -sensitive Pinto common bean cultivar (PI) was reciprocally grafted onto a common bean O ₃ -tolerant genotype (R) or the Greek landrace Zargana Kavalas, (ZK) to investigate rootstock effects on plant O ₃ responses. Self-grafted (PI/PI, R/R, ZK/ZK), non-grafted (PI, R, ZK), and hetero-grafted (PI/R, PI/ZK, R/PI, ZK/PI) plants were grown in separate walk-in chambers and subjected to either charcoal-filtered air (CF-air) or O ₃ -enriched air (eO ₃ ; 150 ppb × 7 days × 8 h day ⁻¹ ). Under eO ₃ treatment, both self-grafted and non-grafted PI plants exhibited ~ 33% visible injury, decreased photosynthetic assimilation rate ( A ), stomatal conductance (g _s ), and CO ₂ use efficiency (CUE), reduced photosynthetic pigment content, and elevated oxidative stress indicators (malondialdehyde content, proline, total phenolics, chlorophyll fluorescence). In contrast, grafted sensitive plants onto tolerant rootstocks showed limited visible injuries (< 2%) and maintained more stable physiological and biochemical traits. These findings suggest that plant sensitivity/tolerance to O ₃ is root-mediated, and support grafting as a promising strategy to improve plant tolerance to O ₃ stress.