Abstract:Agronomic traits of 276 rice bean (Vigna umbellata) germplasm resources were evaluated in Beijing and Hainan, to provide information for new gene mining and utilization. The results showed that rice bean germplasm resources had obvious sensitivity to light and temperature. Among the 276 rice bean germplasms, 188 could flower and set seed in Beijing, while 271 could flower and set seed in Hainan. Young stems of most of the rice beans were purple (91.7%). The seeds were mainly yellow (44.9%) or red (33.0%). A large part of the germplasms were twining in Beijing (93.1%) but semi-twining in Hainan (64.9%). Comparative analysis of quantitative traits showed that the growth period, number of branches on the main stem, and 100-seed weight were greater in Beijing than in Hainan, while pod length and number of seeds per pod were in reverse. The average coefficient of variation for each trait of the rice beans growing in the two locations, in decreasing order, was number of branches on main stem (25.84%), 100-seed weight (25.34%), pod length (16.78%), number of seeds per pod (14.23%), and growth period (9.35%). The growth period and the number of branches on main stem of the same germplasm resources were less in lower latitude than in the higher latitude, while the length of pod, the number of seeds per pod and the 100-seed weight were not notably correlated with the geographical locations. Finally, 47 elite germplasms with early maturity, erect stems, long pod, or large seed were selected. The present study would provide information for further study on new gene mining and their application in breeding.