EFFECT OF INTERCROPPING BUSH BEAN POPULATIONS WITH MAIZE ON AGRONOMICTRAITS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR SELECTION

The effect of intercropping bush bean with maize on several agronomic traits was studied for 25 populations of bush bean. These populations were grown in two field trials in the northwest of Spain in two consec utive years. Population means differed little between cropping systems . Significant differences among populations were found for all charact ers except end of flowering, period of flowering and pod yield. There were neither cropping system nor populations x cropping system effects for the characters studied. There were significant environment x popu lation interactions in some cases, and this could cause difficulties f or future breeding programs. The results suggest that under these envi ronmental conditions, selection under either cropping system would be effective for both.