Rojo Chiquito, is literally in a class all its own. In fact, it is the first Central American market-class small red dry bean bred for production on U.S. soils, notes Philip Miklas, a research geneticist, at the Agricultural Research Service’s Vegetable and Forage Crops Production Research Unit, Prosser, WA.

Miklas developed the new cultivar, along with Washington State University agronomist An Hang and ARS colleagues Matt Silbernagel (retired) and George Hosfield, based in East Lansing, MI.

Rojo Chiquito differs in several ways from the small red dry bean cultivars that U.S. farmers now grow. First, it was specifically bred by Silbernagel with genes conferring disease resistance to curly top virus and bean common mosaic virus. Second, it grows upright, rather than prone. This cuts down on the fungal disease scelerotinia white mold and allows farmers to use ultra-narrow rows for increased yield