A new Adzuki bean cultivar, ‘Hongmiin’, was developed from the cross between K204656 (Toyomidainagon) and SA9905 in 2008. Hongmiin showed prominent agronomical characteristics, such as high grain quality, lodging resistance, and high yield in the regional adaptation yield trials (RYT) conducted for four years from 2017 to 2020. ‘Hongmiin’ is an early maturing variety, having a bright red seed coat, and the sediment ratio of this red bean was high because of the thin seed coat. The mean plant height of ‘Hongmiin’ was 58 cm, and its yield components were 7.4 pods per plant and a 100-seed-weight of 20.5 g of in the regional yield trials (RYT). This indicates that the Hongmiin has appropriate trait values for red bean production and processing. In the regional yield trial for the four years, the average yield potential of ‘Hongmine’ was 2.09 MT/ha, which is 8% higher than that of ‘Arari’ (Registration No. 9324).

With the aim of developing an adzukibean variety to manufacture white bean pasta, an adzukibean (Vigna angularis) cultivar, “Huinnarae” was developed in 2014. “Huinnarae” was developed in 2003 by crossing Gyeongwon and Sodubanggei 3. It was a late-maturing variety, having a bright yellow seed coat. Moreover, “Huinnarae” showed more white lightness than “Chungju.” Its plant height was 79 cm, and its yield components showed 6.7 pods per plant and 16.6 g of 100-seed weight in the regional yield trial(RYT). Further, in the RYT conducted for the three years, the average yield potential of “Huinnarae” was 1.86 MT/ha, which was 4% lower than that of “Chungju.” Moreover, it is suitable to make white bean pasta. “Huinnarae” is expected to increase diversity, create new demand surges, and improve the value and consumption of adzukibean (Registration 6050).

In 2008, a new adzuki bean (Vigna angularis) cultivar, ‘Honggyeong’, was developed using artificial cross between ‘Milyang 7 (SA9709-2B-8-2-4-4-1)’ and ‘SA0001’ at the National Institute of Crop Science, RDA, Korea. It was selected for further yield trials-named ‘Miryang 36’. This cultivar was prominent and showed desirable agronomic traits, such as lodging tolerance, high yield, and high antioxidant activity during the regional adaptation yield trials (RYT) from 2016-2018. ‘Honggyeong’ was finally released as a new cultivar in 2018 and its distinct phenotypic traits included a semi-determinate growth habit, yellow flowers, green embryonic axis, bright red seed-cort color, white hilum, and large seeds (18.4 g per 100 seeds). The average yield of ‘Honggyeong’ was 2.06 MT/ha in the regional yield trials (RYT), which was slightly higher than that of the check cultivar (1.89 MT/ha), ‘Chungju’ (Registration No. 7934).

A small red bean cultivar, ‘Haeorom’, was developed by artificial cross breeding between ‘Milyang 7 (SA9709-2B-8-2-4-4-1)’ and ‘Toyomidainagon (K204656)’ at the National Institute of Crop Science, RDA, Korea in 2008, and selected for further yield trials under the name ‘Miryang 27’. It was prevalent and showed desirable agronomic traits such as lodging tolerance, high yields, and strong antioxidant activity during the regional yield trials (RYT) from 2014 to 2016. ‘Haeorom’ was released as a new cultivar in 2016. It has some distinct phenotypic traits, including a semi-determinate growth habit, yellow flower, green embryonic axis, bright red seed, white hilum, and small spherical seeds (18.6 g per 100 seeds). The average yield of ‘Haeorom’ was 2.04 MT/ha in the RYT, which was slightly higher than that of the check cultivar (1.87 MT/ha), ‘Chungju’ (Registration No. 7508).

A new small redbean cultivar, ‘Hongjin’, was developed by an artificial cross between ‘SA9206-2B-6-1-2-3-3-2’ and ‘Suwon38’ at the National Institute of Crop Science, RDA, Korea, in 1999, and selected for the further yield trials under the name ‘Miryang 23’. It was prominent and had desirable agronomic traits, such as high grain quality, lodging tolerance, and high antioxidant activity in the regional adaptation yield trials (RYT) from 2013 to 2015. ‘Hongjin’ was finally released as a new cultivar in 2015. ‘Hongjin’ has some distinct phenotypic traits, including a semi-determinate growth habit, yellow flowers, green embryonic axis, dark red seed coat, white hilum, and small spherical seeds (15.4 g per 100 seeds). The average yield of ‘Hongjin’ was 1.99 MT/ha in the regional yield trials (RYT), which was slightly higher than that of the check cultivar ‘Chungju’ (1.84 MT/ha) (Registration No. 7510).

A few inbred grain-sorghum varieties, developed and grown in Korea, have low productivity. Several hybrid cultivars have been demonstrated to be more productive and resistant to unfavorable environmental conditions than pure line varieties. However, very limited studies have been conducted on hybrid sorghum in Korea. Information on combining ability of Korean landraces based on parental materials is of great importance for increasing the productivity of sorghum through hybrid breeding programs. This study was conducted to determine the combining abilities of Korean sorghum landraces and cultivars. Two cytoplasmic male-sterile lines (A.Arg-1 and A03017) were crossed with 13 male-fertile lines to generate 26 experimental grain-sorghum hybrids. The hybrids were evaluated at two locations (Daegu and Miryang) in Korea in 2018. They were planted in three replications and standard agronomic practices were followed at both sites. There were significant (p=0.001) variations among genotypes for yield and secondary traits. For each trait, general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) effects were estimated using the line-tester method. A positive heterosis for grain yield was observed in several hybrids. The A03017×Sodamchal hybrids exhibited considerable heterosis of up to 54.1%. The lines 18AYT-S04 and Sodamchal displayed positive significant GCA effects for grain yield, and A03017×Sodamchal crosses showed the highest positive SCA effects. The crosses, A.Arg-1×18OYT-S17, A.Arg-1×Sodamchal and A.Arg-1×18OYT-S01 had high grain yields with waxy endosperms, and could be recommended for grain-sorghum breeding programs in Korea.