UC releases bean varieties

Plant breeders at the University of California, Davis, are releasing six new varieties of organic beans.

According to the university, field trials found the new varieties produced high yields and were resistant to bean common mosaic virus, a disease that prevents bean plants from maturing promptly and uniformly.

Breeders worked with organic farmers to choose heirloom and traditional bean varieties considered to have excellent flavor and aesthetics but that remained somewhat uncommon because they don't always perform well in the field. Breeders cross-pollinated traditional and heirloom varieties and selected the best characteristics of both groups.

The new bean varieties include UC Tiger's Eye, similar to Tiger's Eye; UC Southwest Gold, similar to Zuni Gold; UC Sunrise, similar to Zuni Gold; UC Southwest Red, similar to Anasazi; UC Four Corners Red, similar to Anasazi; UC Rio Zape, similar to Rio Zape.

Seeds of the new bean varieties are available through the UC Davis Foundation Seed Program.