Socioeconomic and Agronomic Survey of Climbing Bean Growers in Guatemalan Highlands

To enhance the productivity of beans targeted for the milpa (intercropping) system, the Legume Innovation Lab initiated a project focused on the genetic improvement of Middle-American climbing beans for Guatemala, a collaboration between the bean breeding program at North Dakota State University (NDSU) and the Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnologia Agricola (ICTA). Given the lack of information about this production system, a farm household survey representative of the altiplano region (a.k.a. western highlands) of Guatemala was conducted in 2015 in five departments in this region (Quiché, Huehuetenango, San Marcos, Chimaltenango and Quetzaltenango). The objectives of this survey was to gain a better understanding of the socio-economic status and varietal needs among bean producers within the context of intercropping systems, which could be used as input in the bean breeding program's efforts to develop improved germplasm with better agronomic performance.