Thirty two genotypes of black bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) had their field performance evaluated in the agricultural year of 1996/97 in Lages/SC. The influences of three characters of agronomic importance on the production of grains for unit per area were scored. A completely randomized block design was used with four replications. The objective of the study was to estimate some genetic and phenotypic parameters of black bean. The direct selection revealed values of genetic gains superior to the ones obtained through indirect selection. The weight of a thousand grain (PMG) contributed to genetic progress through indirect selection than, the number of pods per plant (NLP) and the number of grains per pod (NGL). The results demonstrated that the tested black bean genotypes had a wide genetic variability, which was an indication of excellent germplas sources. The employment of estimates of genetic parameters such as genetic variance between pure lines and the heritability coefficient may be used as a powerful tool for bean breeders
Phaseolus vulgaris; crop; selection; grain yield
