Scientists identified 30 new lines of "heat beater" beans that could be resilient to climate change, helping to calm some fears about the future of food production and availability.
The findings could help one day save lives in bean-dependent regions such as Latin-America and Africa, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) reported.
"This discovery could be a big boon for bean production because we are facing a dire situation where, by 2050, global warming could reduce areas suitable for growing beans by 50 percent," said Steve Beebe, a senior CGIAR bean researcher.
The researchers found the tested beans would most likely be able to handle worst-case-scenario climate conditions in which the buildup of greenhouse gases cause the world to heat up by as much as 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit.
"As a result of this breakthrough, beans need not be the casualty of global warming that they seemed destined to be, but rather can offer a climate-friendly option for farmers struggling to cope with rising temperatures," said Andy Jarvis, a CGIAR climate change expert.
Many of these heat-resistant beans developed by the CIGAR scientist are hybrids of common species, such as pinto, white, black, kidney, and the tepary bean.
Beans have been dubbed the "meat of the poor," and are relied on by more than 400 million people who live in the developing world. They offer essential nutrients such as "protein, fiber, complex carbohydrates, vitamins, and other micronutrients."
Among the beans found to be the "stars" of heat tolerance, one has already been commercially introduced for production in Nicaragua due to its performance in drought conditions. When it was tested in the dry conditions of Costa Rica it proved to provide twice as much of a yield as beans currently being grown in the region.
"What this shows us is that heat may already be hurting bean production in Central America far more than we thought and farmers could benefit from adopting the new heat-beater beans right now," Beebee said.
