Preface

Legumes, or members of the Fabaceae family, mainly comprise herbaceous plants, including some shrubs and a few trees. Legumes rank second after cereals globally in both production and nutritional terms. They contain significant amounts of many other mineral components, making them an economically more feasible source of protein than animal sources, particularly in developing countries. Legumes are not only beneficial as human food, but they are also known to have promising positive effects on soil properties: in agronomic studies, they are classed as restorative crops, green manuring crops, or cover crops. Legumes have also been shown to have moderate tolerance properties under different abiotic stress conditions.

The nine chapters in this book deal with the biology and physiology of legume crops as well as their production technologies and responses to various environmental conditions. The book provides the reader with a comprehensive overview of various aspects of legume production technology, agronomic management, and the role of legumes in future food security. We believe the book will be useful for undergraduate and graduate students, teachers, and researchers, particularly in the fields of agronomy and crop science.

We would like to thank all the authors for their outstanding and timely contributions. We are very grateful to Marijana Josipovic, Commissioning Editor, and to Blanka Gugic and Mirna Papuga, Author Service Managers, at IntechOpen for their prompt responses during the production of this book. We also thank Ayesha Siddika for her reviews and formatting.

> **Mirza Hasanuzzaman** Department of Agronomy, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

**1**

**Chapter 1**

**Abstract**

landraces

**1. Introduction**

New Age of Common Bean

*Monika Vidak, Boris Lazarević, Jerko Gunjača* 

Common bean (*Phaseolus vulgaris* L.) is a plant with high nutritional value that occupies an important place in human nutrition worldwide. Its yields vary widely and are often below the genetic potential of the species, given the diversity of cropping systems and climatic changes. Common bean landraces are a source of great genetic variability and provide excellent material for the selection and improvement of numerous agronomic traits and the creation of modern cultivars. It is also important to use high quality seed of high-yielding cultivars in production, because in common bean, in addition to yield and resistance to abiotic and biotic stress factors, traits such as nutritional value and digestibility are also the focus of interest. The success of common bean production depends to a large extent on the quality of the seed, the

**Keywords:** breeding, common bean production, climate changes, genetic variability,

Grain legumes production have been neglected regardless of their potential to provide nutrition and food security [1]. They are at the crossroads of many societal challenges affecting agriculture, such as climate change, sustainability and food security [2]. Due to their high content of proteins, fibers, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, they play a crucial role in the development of a plant-based diet and are important nutritional components to eliminate hunger and malnutrition [1, 2]. In addition, they improve soil fertility, for example by fixing nitrogen through symbiosis with rhizobia, and at the same time keep crop yields high [3]. Nowadays, however, the trend is changing and many consumers are demanding local food for economic reasons (increasing farmers' income, adding more value to local stakeholders, etc.), social reasons (i.e. maintaining the population in the area), environmental reasons (reducing traffic and gas emissions, landscape conservation and biodiversity, etc.) and because local products are perceived to be fresher or of better quality [4]. The COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian war have led to drastic fluctuations in energy prices and disruptions in energy and food supply chains, access to fertilizers is limited, and future harvests are uncertain [5–8]. As a result, the availability and supply of an extensive range of food commodities and end products are under threat, with notable implications for sourcing, production, processing and logistics, and world markets have recently experienced

*and Klaudija Carović-Stanko*

production approach and new breeding programs.

**Chapter 1**
