BRS COMETA: A CARIOCA GRAIN TYPE COMMON BEAN CULTIVAR WITH ERECT GROWTH HABIT

摘要

Common bean is considered to be the Brazilian's people basic protein food, who regionally demands, besides the culinary quality, also different grain color and type. Actually, the Brazilian's dry bean consumption is about 79% of carioca, 17% of blackand 4% of other grain types. These beans are produced mostly in the Southern, Southeast and Center-west regions. To attend this demand, the 2006 bean production was about 3,0 million of tons cultivated in an area of 2,9 million hectares, meaning a national average productivity of 1034 kg/ha. If on one side the productivity has been growing, the consumption per capita has been decreasing, resulting in an average estimate of annual consumption, in 2006, of 12,7 kg/inhabitant. The bean breeding program, atEmbrapa Rice and Beans, is focused on more productive, disease resistant and erect plant type cultivars. The latest characteristic has the objective to favor bean mechanical harvesting providing farmers to offer to consumers a product with superior quality.