DIVERSITY IN AGRONOMICAL TRAITS IN COMMON BEAN POPULATIONS FROM NORTHWESTERN SPAIN

Fifty-six populations of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) were grow n in Pontevedra (Northwestern Spain) in four different environments in order to study their genetic diversity in 18 agronomical traits. All characters showed significant differences among populations, and most of them had significant genotype-environment interactions. Broad-sense heritability for this pool of characters ranged from 0.87 (seed lengt h) to 0.12 (seed yield). Sixteen populations which deserve special att ention because of their breeding value for earliness, yield, pod and s eed size have been identified.