Heat and drought are major stresses that significantly reduce seed yield of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). In turn, this affects the profitability of the crop in climatic-vulnerable tropical arid regions, which happen to be the poorest and in most need of legume proteins. Therefore, it is imperative to broaden the sources of heat and drought resistance in the common bean by examining closely related species from warmer and drier environments (i.e., Tepary bean, P. acutifolius A. Gray), while harnessing such variation, typically polygenic, throughout advanced interspecific crossing schemes. As part of this study, interspecific congruity backcrosses for high temperature and drought tolerance conditions were characterized across four localities in coastal Colombia. Genotypes with high values of CO₂ assimilation (>24 µmol CO₂ m⁻² s⁻¹), promising yield scores (>19 g/plant), and high seed mineral content (Fe > 100 mg/kg) were identified at the warmest locality, Motilonia. At the driest locality, Caribia, one intercrossed genotype (i.e., 85) and the P. acutifolius G40001 control exhibited sufficient yield for commercial production (17.76 g/plant and 12.76 g/plant, respectively). Meanwhile, at southernmost Turipaná and Carmen de Bolívar localities, two clusters of genotypes exhibited high mean yield scores with 33.31 g/plant and 17.89 g/plant, respectively, and one genotype had an increased Fe content (109.7 mg/kg). Overall, a multi-environment AMMI analysis revealed that genotypes 13, 27, 82, and 84 were environmentally stable with higher yield scores compared to the Tepary control G40001. Ultimately, this study allows us to conclude that advanced common bean × Tepary bean interspecific congruity backcrosses are capable of pyramiding sufficient polygenic tolerance responses for the extreme weather conditions of coastal Colombia, which are likely to worsen due to climate change. Furthermore, some particular recombination events (i.e., genotype 68) show that there may be potential to couple breeding for heat and drought tolerance with Fe mineral biofortification, despite a prevalent trade-off, as a way to fight malnutrition of marginalized communities in tropical regions.

In Colombia, the highest cassava production comes from the semi-arid region of the Atlantic Coast with relatively low yield for fresh consumption (≤11 t/ha). Development of improved varieties is based on a plant ideotype which integrates a group of desirable traits independently measured in the field. However, selecting high performance genotypes for several traits simultaneously is a complex process. Sixteen genotypes were evaluated under four environmental conditions (localities) of the Colombian Caribbean region (Cereté, Carmen de Bolivar, Agustín Codazzi, and Sevilla), and two production cycles (2016/2017–2017/2018) in order to assess phenotypic expression of selected traits, their stability, and utility in genotype selection. Selection of promising genotypes should consider both their superiority and stability. Genotypes SM3106-14, GM1692-56, CM9456-12, and GM214-62 were selected based on their agronomic performance. In addition, frequency analysis of sensorial data showed that genotypes CM9456-12, SM1127-8, SM3553-27, and SM3562-32 were preferred by panelists who assessed, color, flavor, texture, and root shape. Determination of superiority through across-environments, multi-trait selection index allows identifying genotypes with superior performance. However, selection was improved when local multi-trait selection indices were included—phenotypic stability determination (through Lin and Binns index and AMMI model) supported an adequate selection of superior and stable cassava genotypes. The inclusion of palatability response and quality features determination in cassava genotypes can be recommended to identify genotypes with higher adoption rates by farmers and consumers.

Fusarium wilt of banana caused by the soil-borne fungi Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense, Tropical Race 4 (Foc TR4) (Syn. Fusarium odoratissimum), is a major threat to the global banana industry. Aiming to identify predisposing soil factors for Fusarium wilt of banana (FWB) TR4, the 23 physical and chemical soil properties were studied in three commercial banana farms in La Guajira, Colombia. Disturbed and undisturbed soil samples were collected from areas affected by the disease (affected plots) and disease-free areas (healthy plots). Five repetitions per farm were considered, with a total sample of n = 30. The data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Subsequently, the debiased sparse partial correlation (DSPC) algorithm was applied. Organic matter (OM), pH, calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), zinc (Zn), and cation-exchange capacity on the exchange complex (ECEC), showed significant differences between the affected and healthy plots. In addition, the bulk density and saturated hydraulic conductivity (HC) were associated suggesting that physical attributes, such as soil compaction and poor drainage, create favorable conditions for FWB. According to the DSPC algorithm, the HC variable presented a grade of 5 and an intermediation of 14.67, which indicates that it has significant associations with BD, sand, porosity, ECEC, and OM and plays a critical role in the connection of other variables in the network and the differentiation of healthy and affected plots. These findings establish a baseline of information under field conditions in Colombia, which can be used to design soil management strategies to mitigate the detrimental effects of Foc TR4 by creating less favorable conditions for the pathogen.

Global food production and availability in hot climate zones are limited by biotic and abiotic factors that affect agricultural production. One of the alternatives for intensifying agriculture and improving food security in these regions is the use of naturally ventilated greenhouses, an alternative that still requires information that allows technical criteria to be established for decision-making. Therefore, the objective of this work was to study the spatial distribution of temperature and relative humidity inside a greenhouse built in the Colombian Caribbean. The methodological approach included the implementation of an experimentally validated 3D numerical simulation model. The main results obtained allowed to determine that the airflows generated inside the greenhouse had average velocities below 0.5 m/s and were mainly driven by the thermal effect of natural ventilation. It was also found that the gradients generated between the interior of the structure and the exterior environment presented values lower than 2.0 °C for temperature and −6.3% for relative humidity. These values can be considered low in comparison with other structures evaluated in other regions of the world where the gradients can reach values higher than 10 °C and 13% for temperature and relative humidity, respectively.

Assessing interspecific adaptive genetic variation across environmental gradients offers insight into the scale of habitat-dependent heritable heterotic effects, which may ultimately enable pre-breeding for abiotic stress tolerance and novel climates. However, environmentally dependent allelic effects are often bypassed by intra-specific single-locality genome-wide associations studies (GWAS). Therefore, in order to bridge this gap, this study aimed at coupling an advanced panel of drought/heat susceptible common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) × tolerant tepary bean (P. acutifolius A. Gray) interspecific lines with last-generation multi-environment GWAS algorithms to identify novel sources of heat and drought tolerance to the humid and dry subregions of the Caribbean coast of Colombia, where the common bean typically exhibits maladaptation to extreme weather. A total of 87 advanced lines with interspecific ancestries were genotyped by sequencing (GBS), leading to the discovery of 15,645 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. Five yield traits were recorded for each genotype and inputted in modern GWAS algorithms (i.e., FarmCPU and BLINK) to identify the putative associated loci across four localities in coastal Colombia. Best-fit models revealed 47 significant quantitative trait nucleotides (QTNs) distributed in all 11 common bean chromosomes. A total of 90 flanking candidate genes were identified using 1-kb genomic windows centered in each associated SNP marker. Pathway-enriched analyses were done using the mapped output of the GWAS for each yield trait. Some genes were directly linked to the drought tolerance response; morphological, physiological, and metabolic regulation; signal transduction; and fatty acid and phospholipid metabolism. We conclude that habitat-dependent interspecific polygenic effects are likely sufficient to boost common bean adaptation to the severe climate in coastal Colombia via introgression breeding. Environmental-dependent polygenic adaptation may be due to contrasting levels of selection and the deleterious load across localities. This work offers putative associated loci for marker-assisted and genomic selection targeting the common bean’s neo-tropical lowland adaptation to drought and heat.

Abiotic constraints, such as drought and heat driven by climate change, negatively impact the production of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), an essential grain legume worldwide. The ability to tolerate drought and heat stress in common bean can be improved by introducing genetic variation from related species, such as tepary bean (Phaseolus acutifolius A. Gray), which has recently gained attention because of its adaptation to drought and heat stresses and potential use as a genetic resource and alternative crop. To better understand the phenotypic response of tepary bean to drought and heat stress in multiple environments and trials and to select highly adapted tepary beans, we conducted two field experiments. In Experiment 1, we compared the adaptation to drought stress of tepary bean (n = 10), common bean (n = 10), and Lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus L.; n = 9) by assessing the reduction in grain yield under terminal drought compared to well‐irrigated conditions in two California locations with arid summer conditions. Of the three species, tepary bean showed the statistically strongest adaptation to terminal drought, followed by Lima bean and common bean. In Experiment 2, we evaluated a set of 22 tepary beans from contrasting origins for drought and heat stresses across multi‐environment trials (METs) in California, Nebraska, and Colombia, with common bean as a control. We found a considerable variation in the tepary bean phenotypic response to these MET conditions, as a result of a strong genotype × environment interaction. Also, we identified tepary bean accessions adapted to drought, heat, and well‐irrigated conditions across multiple climate zones. Understanding the performance of tepary bean across multiple environments and identifying tepary beans with broad and target‐specific adaptation will maximize the potential use of the species.