Registration of ‘ND Galaxy’: A black bean cultivar with intermediate resistance to common bacterial blight and resistance to bean common mosaic virus

‘ND Galaxy’ (Reg. no. CV-367, PI 708328) is a new cultivar belonging to the black bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) market class, developed by the dry bean breeding program at North Dakota State University and released by the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station. ND Galaxy is a mid- to full-season, high-yielding black bean with commercially acceptable seed size, shape, and appearance. ND Galaxy has desirable upright architecture (Type IIa), facilitating direct harvest. Under North Dakota conditions, ND Galaxy shows an average plant height of 52 cm, has a 100-seed weight of 18.1 g, and matures in ∼97 days. Canning quality and color was rated as acceptable. ND Galaxy has shown an average seed yield increase of approximately 101 and 123 kg ha⁻¹ over ‘Eclipse’ and ‘ND Twilight’, respectively, and 224 kg ha⁻¹ more than ‘Zorro’. However, no significant difference was found when compared to ‘Blacktails’. Since Eclipse and Blacktails are the most commonly grown cultivars in North Dakota, ND Galaxy could be an excellent additional choice for farmers. Besides the high seed yield potential, ND Galaxy has improved resistance to common bacterial blight (CBB) and resistance to Bean common mosaic virus. The CBB intermediate resistance (2.8 ± 0.5) observed in field conditions under natural infection showed that ND Galaxy performed better than most of the black bean cultivars commonly grown in North Dakota; therefore, it could lead to increased economic benefit for farmers and the rest of the bean value chain across the northern Great Plains.