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PBA NEWS
Vandenberg and Bahceci to headline PBA Inaugural
Pulse Conference
Phil Davies (SARDI) - PBA Inaugural Pulse Conference Committee Chair
Renowned Canadian pulse breeder Professor Bert Vandenberg from the University of Saskatchewan and Mr Hakan Bahceci, President of the International Pulse Trade and Industries Confederation (CICILS IPTIC) and group CEO of Hakan Agro DMCC, an agri-soft
commodities supply multinational based in Dubai, UAE are the Conference’s keynote international speakers.
With extensive experience in pulse breeding for one of the world’s largest pulse exporting nations Professor Vandenberg’s expertise in the latest pulse breeding developments will be a
welcome contribution to the conference. An international pulse marketer and processor with over 20 years experience of the global pulse industry, Mr. Bahceci’s perspective will assist
with exploring the potential of pulse advancement for the global marketplace.
Themed “Expanding Horizons” the PBA Inaugural Pulse Conference will foster the
sharing of intellectual expertise and build collaboration across five temperate pulse crops, while providing an excellent
opportunity for the pulse industry - researchers, breeders, marketers and
growers - to seek innovative solutions to developing better varieties for Australian
growers.
Summer 2013
Contact: Fleur Winter, PBA Coordinator
[email protected] ph: 0417 926 033
this issue
PBA Breeders at Wagga Wagga Field Day – p 3
New PBA Varieties for 2013– p 4
Farwell to the King of Lentils – p 6
Third Tech Symposium a success– p 7
Pulse Research News - p 12
Catching up on Canadian research – p20
PBA SUMMER 2013 NEWS Page 2
Showcasing the ultimate use of pulses – proving nutrition to the world - the Conference will also have a pulse food flavour to it. The committee is currently working with well known chefs Simon Bryant, from ABC TV’s The Cook and the Chef, and Ragini Dey from Adelaide’s
Spice Kitchen Restaurant to develop a “passion for pulses” conference menu and dinner in collaboration with food consultant Chris Stephan and pulse marketer Peter Semmler.
The committee will see many other speakers join Professor Vandenberg and Mr Bahceci on the conference podium to share their work and ideas on advancing the pulse industry.
Conference registrations and abstracts submission will be opening soon; notification will be sent out to newsletter subscribers when this occurs. The committee is pleased to report a
large number of expressions of interest from the first conference Shout Out. A conference prospectus is available; please contact PBA Coordinator Fleur Winter: [email protected] if you would like a copy. A big thank you must go to those
organisations who have already committed sponsorship for the conference, and to the GRDC as major sponsor.
The program proposed for the three days is as follows:
Sunday 20th October: Welcome Reception Meet and greet fellow delegates.
Monday 21st October: Field Day Visiting sites close to Adelaide, the day will allow Australian pulse growers, agronomists and
marketers to interact with pulse breeders and researchers from across Australia, as well as international guests.
Taking pulse research to the field, topics will include advances in breeding programs, water use efficiency, and herbicide resistance; as well as market expectations and the challenges
associated with meeting “premium product” objectives. As part of the Inaugural PBA Conference the day will provide a rare opportunity for interaction between industry and all pulse researchers. The aim to not only extend research to growers and the wider industry
but to enhance industry linkages.
New varieties from the PBA breeding programs will also be released during the field day, in collaboration with PBA’s commercial partners.
Tuesday 22nd October: Development Focus The aim of the second day of the conference is to examine practical research focussed on
developing and delivering better pulses. Topics of presentation will include implications of market imperatives for breeders; trait development and bringing new traits to market;
impact of agronomy on grain quality; and farming systems perspectives on pulse production.
The conference dinner, themed “Passion for Pulses”, will be held in the evening.
Wednesday 23rd October: Research Focus The third day will examine the discovery research occurring within pulses, highlighting the
new technologies and traits being developed to enhance and improve the delivery of pulse varieties. Topics will include genotype x environment interactions; wild species germplasm; physiology; genomics; and pathology. The conference will end with a session on realising the
future for the Australian pulse industry.
I hope to see many of you at the Inaugural PBA Pulse Conference this year, 20-23 October in Adelaide.
PBA SUMMER 2013 NEWS Page 3
Eric Armstrong, NSW DPI and Simon Crane, Seednet
examine the pea trial (photo by Toni Nugent)
Field day participants hear from PBA Lupin Breeder, Bevan Buirchell, DAFWA
PBA Breeders at Wagga Wagga Field Day
Holding the last regional PBA meetings at
the Wagga Wagga Agricultural Research Institute in October 2012 created an
unique opportunity for the PBA breeders and agronomists to participate in a joint NSW Agriculture/PBA Breakfast Field Day.
The day, themed Pulses: New Opportunities Ahead was highly
successful with about 90 people attending.
The formal part of the day began with good news of buoyant pulse prices and
growing demand for quality product in the region.
Producers and advisors attending the field day came armed with enthusiasm,
questions and willingness to share experience. Much of the interest was driven by an increasing need for supplementary nitrogen and for a break crop in southern NSW cropping
systems that have of recent times become dominated by continuous cropping and rotations of wheat and canola. While fertiliser has been the main means of supplying nitrogen requirements there has been a surge in interest by many growers and advisers into using
pulse to provide a biologically fixed form of nitrogen.
Progress within the PBA breeding programs as well as the agronomy of the PBA crops (lupin, field pea, chickpea, faba bean and lentil) was discussed. Having the participation of the PBA breeders and research agronomists, along with other local agronomists, ensured that the
many ‘nuts and bolts’ questions about pulse variety and production could be immediately answered. The questions presented indicating a great interest in the fundamental
technologies of producing and managing pulses and their role in the southern NSW cropping system.
The day highlighted that the PBA breeding programs (and predecessor programs) are now
paying dividends with the release of new varieties better adapted to southern NSW with higher, more stable yields and good cross-
disease resistances. Through open discussion the day also provided valuable feedback to the
researchers and breeders present about what is needed to ensure pulses are a viable option for growers in these farming systems.
PBA SUMMER 2013 NEWS Page 4
PBA Chickpea Breeder, Kristy Hobson, NSW DPI addresses the field day
(photo by Toni Nugent)
Larn McMurray, PBA Agronomist, SARDI talks
lentils (photo by Toni Nugent)
A new PBA Field Pea – PB Pear (tested as OZP0819) was released at the field day in conjunction with PBA commercial partner, Seednet. PBA Pearl has superior grain yield potential and is the first broadly
adapted white seeded field pea variety released for Australia. It is a semi-leafless, semi-dwarf, erect growing variety, but has good early
season plant vigour and flowers early to mid season. PBA Pearl produces medium to large spherical white pea seed suitable to market for human consumption or for stockfeed. Seed will be available for
planting this season.
Success of the field day was assisted with the support of the Eurongilly CWA who provided a breakfast in keeping with the
pulse theme, giving visitors the choice of a lupin cereal and fruit salad as starters,
followed by lentil and chickpea meatballs with hummus dip (Ed note: these were great)! Eggs and bacon rolls were on
standby for those who had more traditional tastes.
Thank you also from PBA to the NSW DPI Pulse Agronomy team at the Wagga Wagga Agricultural Institute, headed by Dr Eric
Armstrong, who did a great job of organising not only this field day, but also hosting the PBA meetings in the same week. Given
the success of having the PBA regional CG meeting in combination with a field day, PBA will be looking to see of this can be achieved in other cropping
regions.
New PBA Varieties for 2013
Along with the release of PBA Pearl at the Wagga Wagga Field Day (see article above), PBA released four other new
pulse varieties in 2012. All five pulses will be available to growers this season.
The Faba bean program released PBA Warda , a high yielding (5-8% over recently released varieties), early flowering and
maturing faba bean adapted to Northern NSW / Southern Queensland. It is moderately resistant (MR-R) to rust, has a
high level of tolerance to bean leafroll virus (BLRV) and produces bigger seed that is more uniform than Doza . PBA Warda was the first faba bean variety released by PBA faba bean commercial partner
Viterra.
Two new lentils were released in conjunction with the PBA’s lentil commercial partner PBseeds, PBA Bolt and PBA Ace . PBA Ace has been the highest yielding lentil and is suited to all lentil growing areas, especially longer season areas where Nugget has
traditionally been grown. Better disease resistance makes PBA Ace a better option than the mid maturing varieties Nugget, PBA Jumbo , PBA Bounty , Aldinga and Northfield in these
longer season areas.
PBA SUMMER 2013 NEWS Page 5
PBA Bolt is an erect, early maturing red lentil with medium sized grey seed. It is suited to similar areas to PBA Flash where early maturity, salinity tolerance and erect growth are
keys to reliable and profitable production. PBA Bolt has improved ascochyta blight resistance and higher yield in dry areas or years compared to PBA
Flash . It is therefore better adapted to the southern Mallee, particularly where ascochyta blight needs to be controlled in PBA Flash .
PBA Striker was released by the Chickpea program in
conjunction with PBA commercial partner Seednet. PBA Striker represents a yield improvement in the short medium to low rainfall environments of western and
southern Australia. This is due to its improved early vigour and earlier flowering and maturity compared to
PBA Slasher and Genesis™ 836. It is broadly adapted to these regions and has shown a consistent and significant yield advantage in Western Australia (7-13 %) over recently
released varieties. PBA Striker has a similar plant type to PBA Slasher with larger seed size than PBA Slasher and
Genesis™836. Further information on the attributes of all PBA varieties, including long term yield
comparisons, disease management and agronomy is available in the variety management brochures on the PBA webpage: www.grdc.com.au/pba, or contact the PBA Coordinator Fleur
Winter [email protected].
PBA Hello’s and Goodbye’s
A few new faces will be joining the PBA Board. PBA would like to welcome Dr Klaus Oldach, now representing SARDI, following the retirement of Dr Andy Pointon from SARDI and
therefore the PBA Board; and Dr David Bowran, representing DAFWA for an initial term of 12 months in place of Dr Mark Sweetingham.
PBA thanks both Drs Pointon and Sweetingham for the time and effort they contributed to PBA, particularly in assisting with planning and strategy development for PBA Phase II to
ensure PBA continues to deliver better pulse varieties for Australian growers. We wish Dr Pointon all the best for the next phase of his career, and hope to see Dr Sweetingham resume on the Board next year.
Unfortunately Kate Light, who had been representing GRDC on the PBA Coordination Group,
has been enticed back to the dark side - the canola industry got wind of her defection to pulses and promptly offered her a canola breeding position. Thank you Kate for your contribution during your time in the marvellous world of pulses – we will all remember you
when donning our lovely PBA caps, sipping from our PBA cups and questioning how to improve the efficiency of our projects. Brondwen MacLean will resume on the PBA
Coordination Group as the GRDC representative. Dr Michael Materne has also left PBA, the PBA Lentil Breeding Program will be supervised by
Dr Tony Leonforte (leader of the PBA Field Pea Program) until a new breeder is appointed. Farwell to Michael follows.......
PBA SUMMER 2013 NEWS Page 6
Farwell to the King of Lentils
After leading the PBA Lentil Program since the inception of PBA in 2006 we had to say
goodbye to our PBA Lentil Breeder, Dr Michael Materne, at the end of 2012. Michael’s contribution to PBA, was outstanding. Michael contributed to PBA not only as the lentil
breeder, but also in assisting with the establishment of PBA - in particular in providing leadership in the development of the commercial partner pipeline arrangements and the end point royalty system for pulses, and in supporting and displaying the PBA ideal of best
practice breeding. We will miss Michael’s innovative and forward thinking attitude and straight shooting approach to all things pulse.
As a lentil breeder (Michael was the leader of the National Lentil Breeding Program prior to the establishment of PBA) Michael has made an enormous contribution to the development of
a viable and expanding Australian lentil industry. The current suite of PBA lentil varieties, PBA Ace , PBA Bolt , PBA Blitz , PBA Bounty , PBA Flash , PBA Jumbo , and
PBA Herald XT certainly testifies to this, as does the fact that 100% of the lentil varieties grown in the Australian industry today were developed under Michael’s leadership.
PBA wishes Michael all the best in his future endeavours and hope that his considerable expertise and knowledge will remain in the Australian pulse industry. Mr. Wayne Hawthorne,
Pulse Australia, gave a great tribute to Michael on Michael’s departure, it is reproduced below:
“A True Lentil: Michael, you
departed from the
NORTHFIELD of Yorke
Peninsula and settled here in the
east in Horsham but with a
national perspective. You
started as a young NIPPER,
without any HERALD or fanfare,
too young to be a baby
BOOMER, and definitely far too
young to be a World War 2 or
Vietnam DIGGER. After
waltzing MATILDA away, in a
FLASH you hit the BOUNTY
with a JUMBO sized NUGGET
and your subsequent other lentil
varieties. Your BLITZ came like
a thunder BOLT, and you won
us over with your ACE as your
last stroke of genius. We ALL
DING A champion like you
mate. Canadians might think
that you’ve been ROBIN their
LAIRD and ESTON, but ….really it is just Bert and you sharing secrets and germplasm. As far as
Australians and the Canadians are concerned………………you are INVINCIBLE. Your IMPACT, like a
METEOR, has been to the MAXIM. You IMPRESS on others to IMPROVE and achieve their
MILESTONE in this GREENLAND of Oz. So Michael, there is no need to turn CRIMSON and feel
embarrassed. You RICHLEA deserve to go out in a BLAZE of glory having taken VANTAGE of your
skills and earned status amongst the lentil industry. Hence I here IMPOWER you with SOVEREIGN
status…….. King of the Lentil Industry. I am proud to say that you are a Cobber of mine.
Congratulations and thanks from us all. We wish you all the best for your lentil breeding future."–
Wayne Hawthorne. Editor’s note – all bolded words are as you probably suspected - names of Australian and
international lentil varieties.
PBA SUMMER 2013 NEWS Page 7
Brent Barlow
Diseased barley straw on hill plots
Third Tech Symposium a success
William Martin (DAFF Qld)
Mr Brent Barlow (Research Specialist Professional) from the
University of Saskatchewan Canada was a guest presenter at the 3rd PBA technical symposium, held at Hermitage Research Facility, Warwick Qld in August 2012. Mr Barlow gave a presentation on
the Pulse breeding program based at the University and an insight into some
of the equipment and methodologies used in their breeding programs.
On the first day Dr Andrew Borrell (Science Leader at Hermitage ) set the
mod for the Symposium with a short presentation highlighting the projects
based at Hermitage and acknowledging the importance of the work technical staff do in research projects.
Representatives from each node of the breeding and agronomy
programs gave 14 excellent presentations outlining their team’s projects. The talks highlighted the issues that some teams have in servicing trial sites, as well as equipment that they have developed to ensure the success of trials. Also covered were methods in
dealing with disease inoculation, herbicide treatments and crossing techniques.
Presentations by the DAFF Barley pathology technical officer on world class techniques used to inoculate
barley diseases both in the field and glasshouse were viewed and discussions
held on how some aspects could be incorporated into the pulse programs.
Michael Hassell from the DAFF Bio-informatics group at Toowoomba gave a
presentation and demonstration on the latest software packages developed for breeding programs in Queensland.
These include a seed storage management system (Katalogue) for
managing seed for both short and long term storage, a field data capture program using PDA technology and a plot weighing systems using barcodes. He also
demonstrated new hardware systems (e.g. tablets and android phones) that are capable of interfacing with these software programs. A number of staff are now using tables and phones
to run these interfaced field data capture programs.
PBA SUMMER 2013 NEWS Page 8
Winter cereal planter for disease nurseries Pulse planter showing water injection
The first day of the symposium concluded with a tour of chickpea trials based on Hermitage Research Station. Of particular interest were the Phytophthora Root Rot disease screening nursery and the yield loss trial. Participants noted the wider row spacing used in Queensland
and the deep alluvial soils on the station.
A bus tour of the Darling Downs on the second day showcased the diverse cropping opportunities that growers have with the direct drilling of chickpeas into
sorghum and Maize standing stubble . The Darling Downs NVT site was inspected and Douglas Lush gave a
presentation on the entries and background of the NVT trial. The second day concluded with an inspection and presentations on some of the latest equipment being
used by various breeding programs based at Hermitage including the Summer cereal harvester with on board
weighing, and NIR technology for quality sampling. Equipment used for pulse breeding projects and winter
cereal projects were on show and generated good discussions on some of the pros and cons of each piece.
A meeting of all technical officers on the final day delivered a summary of equipment and facilities that they believe would enhance their current project outputs. Each node generated
a list that they believe is essential to increasing efficiencies and accuracy in running trials using technology readily available to growers.
The PBA Technical Symposium was a considerable success with a highlight being the presentations from Brent Barlow from the University of Sakatchwan. Brent was so impressed
with the symposium he would like to run a similar event in Canada. Michael Hassell presentation on the interfaced data capture software applications currently available and
their accessibility to the PBA programs also generated a great deal of interest and will certainly assist the technical teams within their programs.
On behalf of the organising committee I would like to thank all those who took the time to attend and their input that makes the workshop such a success. It is proposed that the next
Pulse Technical Symposium is to be held in Tamworth in 2014.
PBA SUMMER 2013 NEWS Page 9
Launching PBA Striker in WA - Left to Right: Mark Sweetingham, Kristy Hobson, Alan
Meldrum, Brondwen MacLean and Ian Pritchard
PBA PROGRAM UPDATES
Chickpea
Kristy Hobson (NSW DPI)
Dry spring conditions resulted in an early 2012 harvest for the Eastern states, whilst the West battled through a dry growing season, finishing with a wet harvest. Despite the majority of
sites having a quick end to the season, it was pleasing to see good yields from a number of breeding lines despite the tough finish.
Trial site mean yields around the country were 2.8 t/ha in central QLD, 2.4 t/ha in southern QLD, 1.7 t/ha in northern NSW, 1.5 t/ha in southern NSW, 1.4 t/ha in Victoria, 1.7 t/ha in SA
and 0.8 t/ha in WA. Most regions reported minimal disease issues, although ascochyta blight (AB) was an issue in some areas of central QLD, particularly where growers failed to adhere to disease management protocols. Virus was widespread throughout the Liverpool Plains
region following large aphid numbers in early spring and resulted in devastating damage to some trials and commercial crops.
Last year the program launched the desi variety PBA Striker (tested as CICA0603) in Western Australia, with launch activities in Eastern Australia to be conducted in 2013. PBA
Striker has shown an excellent yield advantage over PBA Slasher in short season environments, and this was observed again in 2012 NVT results.
PBA SUMMER 2013 NEWS Page 10
Faba Bean
Jeff Paull (Uni Adelaide)
The area of faba beans sown in Australia increased in 2012 compared to 2011, and yields
were generally good despite the dry finish to the season. Both area sown and production were well above the five year average for the crop Australia-wide, indicating that confidence
in growing faba beans has recovered from the low point following the 2006 drought. The current high price for faba beans, coupled with good production results and the adoption of new varieties, is likely to see further expansion of the crop in 2013.
PBA Warda , (breeding line IX114/1-16) was released in September 2012 at the Tuloona
Field Day. PBA Warda is a new variety that is adapted to the sub-tropical region of northern New South Wales and potentially in southern Queensland. Warda is an Arabic word with the meaning “rose”, and it was selected in particular to acknowledge the contribution of Ian Rose
to faba bean breeding and industry development in northern New South Wales. PBA Warda’s major attributes are high yield potential in the region, rust resistance
equivalent to Doza and good yields have been obtained in the presence of BLRV. The seed of PBA Warda is larger than Doza and this should help in achieving the quality required in Middle East markets. The good yield of PBA Warda observed in previous years continued
and it was the overall highest yielding variety in NVT in nth NSW in2012.
PBA Rana was grown for the first time in 2012 and most production was for on-farm seed multiplication. A limited amount of PBA Rana was delivered and the quality was excellent. This will be the first time that a significant parcel is exported to the Middle East and feedback
will be very interesting. PBA Rana is specifically suited to long-season environments, and the dry finish to the season resulted in lower yields than long-term averages in several areas,
such as the mid-north of SA. Nevertheless, PBA Rana still performed well in the areas to which it is most adapted and was higher yielding than Farah and Nura at Millicent and the Southern Farming Systems site at Westmere.
A number of very promising breeding lines are progressing through the pipeline. Significant
multiplications were undertaken for the Southern Region lines AF05069-2 and AF05095-1, both resistant to Ascochyta blight, with a very high yield potential across a wide range of
sites. IX220d was multiplied in the Northern Region, it is resistant to BLRV. The resistance is derived from Yunnan germplasm, collected in 1996 during an Australia/ICARDA/China ACIAR project.
The breeding project has interacted with a number of germplasm enhancement projects and
the one that is probably most advanced is the development of herbicide tolerant pulses, in collaboration with SARDI. Naturally occurring tolerance to Metribuzin and Simazine has been identified in a germplasm collection and now needs field validation. The most exciting
outcome is the identification of tolerance to imazapyr in a mutated population of Nura . This tolerance has now been transferred to the F2 generation of crosses to several elite breeding
lines and these selections will be multiplied and evaluated for other major traits, such as disease resistance, during 2013.
Plans are underway for release of the next variety, IX114/1-16, a high yielding, rust resistant variety for the Northern Region. The launch is scheduled for 27 September 2013 at a field
day at Tulloona, NSW. A number of lines are at earlier stages of multiplication this year, either by PBA’s faba bean commercial partner, Viterra, or within the breeding program. The next likely candidate for release is AF05069-2, an Ascochyta blight resistant line with about
8-10% higher yield than all current varieties grown in the Southern Region.
PBA SUMMER 2013 NEWS Page 11
PBA Program Leader Contacts
Lentils
Mr Tony Leonforte
DPI Victoria
03 5362 2155
Field peas
Mr Tony Leonforte
DPI Victoria
03 5362 2155
Chickpeas
Dr Kristy Hobson
NSW DPI
02 6763 1179
Faba Beans
Dr Jeff Paull
University of Adelaide
08 8303 6564
Lupins
Dr Bevan Buirchell
DAFWA
08 9368 3653
Pulse Germplasm Enhancement Program
Dr Phil Davies
SARDI
08 8303 9494
PBA SUMMER 2013 NEWS Page 12
PULSE RESEARCH NEWS
Global Grain Legumes Research Program Launch
Brondwen MacLean (GRDC)
I am assuming that all are aware of the CGIAR Centres and the role they play in alleviating poverty,
and in providing food and nutrition (not necessarily the same thing) to the poorest in the world, whilst
ensuring sustainable management of natural resources.
Recently the CGIAR Centres undertook a major strategic review. An outcome of this review was
agreeing to work together in the CGIAR Consortium. This is a major shift in that the Centres will now
far more explicitly work together collaboratively to reduce the current level of duplication and
fragmentation (sound familiar?) to tackle complex problems. Part of working together is the
establishment of CGIAR Research Programs. The Research Programs will allow the various Centres
and partners to draw on expertise across all Centres and through a range of different partners.
The Grain Legumes Program is a partnership among four members of the CGIAR Consortium: ICRISAT
as lead Centre, CIAT, ICARDA and IITA, along with numerous other parties.
Last week I attended the launch and associated workshop of the Global Research Program on Grain
Legumes at ICRISAT headquarters near Hyderabad, Andra Pradesh, India. Unfortunately no cricket in
Hyderabad but the Australian women were in the process of winning another One Day World
Championship!
The Workshop had several aims:
To reach a common and shared understanding of the research program
To validate the focus of the research program and the integration of the different components
To work out partnership arrangements
To clarify roles and responsibility of management
To agree on a way forward.
The opening session began with a short presentation to bring attendees up to speed on the research
program. The meeting then broke into different groups based on a range of questions. This was an
innovative, quick and smart way of participants gaining a good understanding of each others situation
and level of involvement. For instance we had to break into groups based on:
Whether we were government sector, private, farmer organisation or donor
How long we had been in our current organisation and whether we were a “doer” or a
“manager”
Whether or not we agreed with certain statements made (indicated our risk appetite or short
term vs long term goals)
Gender
This helped break the ice and lead to the obvious questions “well, what does this tell us”? For
example, only one person of the 80 or so participants was representing farmers or a farmer
organisation, only three of us were female, only one (or two if you count GRDC because we are not a
donor) was from the private sector.
The following two days involved working in small groups on particular issues and presenting outcomes
back to the whole meeting. We had to participate in several different groups, and not work with
people we knew – a great way of making people interact and see others’ perspectives. There was
lively interaction, debate and a strong sense of commitment.
PBA SUMMER 2013 NEWS Page 13
Aspects of the workshop I liked and thought worked included:
Sense of commitment and purpose, openness and intent
Breaking into work groups for particular tasks
Now having a basic knowledge of the Grain Legume Program
Excellent facilitator
ICRISAT was a faultless host
This was pulse breeding in Australia 10 years ago – we have come a long way
Impact assessment and ongoing evaluation as things proceeded – ie stronger ex ante
evaluations
Shared ownership, vision and integration
Big picture, strategic thinking – program of work not small projects
Flexibility built in, demarcation and boundaries dropped (but keeping to food analogies….the
proof will be in the pudding!)
Emphasis on grain legumes (historically has been cereal focus)
Issues not addressed at the workshop included:
How does the Grain Legumes Program engage with others outside of CGIAR Centres and NARS.
For example, how can the program attract external partners such as GRDC? While GRDC would
invest in projects to benefit Australian growers often research outcomes are not mutually
exclusive, results of benefit to Aussie growers are also likely to benefit farmers in target CGIAR
countries.
How to manage IP and freedom to operate if third parties attracted
The need to undertake an “audit” of current and completed R&D – many of the issues discussed
are already being address by significant investment in the developed world.
The need to address issues of knowledge transfer. Extension of R&D remains a major issue.
There is a need to acknowledge and address that the solution to some issues may be extension,
marketing or delivery - not necessarily more research per se. The question of “what are the
“practice changes” required for adoption”, needs to be asked.
Significant achievements from the workshop:
It presented good opportunities to work together to enhance productivity and collaboration (i.e.
it was not just a talk fest!)
The use of a value chain (systems) approach
Rode a bike without brakes or gears around ICRISAT (about 7kms only) in high heels - did not
fall off!
The Global Grain Legumes Research Program contains eight grain legume product lines grouped into
four key areas as indicated below:
Addressing abiotic stresses and climate change effects PL1 – Drought and low phosphorous tolerant common bean, cowpea and soybean
PL2 – Heat –tolerant chickpea, common bean, faba bean and lentil*
PL3 – Short duration, drought tolerant and aflatoxin groundnut
(Note , my Aussie colleague Professor Siddique (UWA) and I worked in PL2)*
Capturing unique legume ability to fix nitrogen PL4 – High nitrogen-fixing chickpea, common bean, faba bean and soybean
Managing key biotic stresses PL5 – Insect smart chickpea, cowpea and pigeonpea production systems
Generating new opportunities to intensify cropping systems PL6 – Extra-early chickpea and lentil varieties
PL7 – Herbicide tolerant, machine harvestable chickpea, faba bean and lentil varieties
PL8 – Pigeonpea hybrid and management practices
For far more detailed information about the programs visit http://www.cgiar.org/our-research/cgiar-
research-programs/cgiar-research-program-on-grain-legumes/
PBA SUMMER 2013 NEWS Page 14
National Pulse Pathology Update
Kurt Lindbeck (NSW DPI)
This year NSW DPI hosted the 7th Annual National Pulse Pathology Meeting at Wagga
Wagga. The successful two day meeting was held on the 11th/12th September and hosted 27 plant pathologists from around Australia
who specialise in diseases of pulse crops. Attendees included representatives from
state departments of agriculture, universities and GRDC.
Day one featured an update forum to highlight and discuss recent findings from a
number of research projects from around Australia. The broad range of projects presented indicates the depth of research activity
currently being undertaken. The range of topics included;
State wide updates on the current status of pulse diseases and seasonal issues. Studies on the ascochyta diseases of pulses, including population genetics and
variability studies. Use of the Blackspot manager model as a management tool for field pea
growers in Western Australia and South Australia.
Pulse crop virus epidemiology studies including the incidence of PSbMV in lentil, a polerovirus identified in Queensland and virus incidence in Western Australia.
Pulse seed health, including an update on the Seed Health Workshop held in Horsham, and results of a chickpea seed health survey and evaluation of seed treatments at Tamworth.
Issues relating to the use of fungicides to manage pulse diseases in Australia.
The second day featured a field tour to inspect local pulse agronomy and disease screening trials at the Wagga Wagga Agricultural Institute and pulse breeding and agronomy evaluation sites at Coolamon and Junee.
Issues arising from the meeting included:
The significance of pathogen variability and impacts on the stability of disease
resistance in pulse crop cultivars. The use of foliar fungicides in pulse crop
production, including the development of fungicide resistance and alternate chemistries. The importance of seed health and
quality on pulse crop production. In particular, the need for industry awareness of issues
relating to seed health. The success of the Blackspot manager in predicting disease development in field pea for
Western Australian and South Australian field pea producers.
PBA SUMMER 2013 NEWS Page 15
Southern Pulse Agronomy
Project: Research Highlights
Jason Brand (DPI Vic), Michael Lines and Larn McMurray (SARDI), Luke Gaynor and Eric Armstrong (NSW DPI)
Southern Pulse Agronomy is a tri-state research
program lead by DPI Victoria and funded through GRDC, DPIVic, SARDI and NSW DPI. The current project is titled Expanding the Use of Pulses in South-Eastern Australia.
The project undertakes research aimed at increasing on-farm productivity, reliability and profitability of lentil, field pea, chickpea, faba bean and lupin in south eastern Australia. It
delivers specific crop management practices that optimise yield and quality and minimises production risks of new varieties. Further, new traits are identified and explored for each pulse and this information passed to the PBA Breeding Programs for future variety
improvement. Then Southern Pulse Agronomy Project developed and incorporated all the management related information for the five PBA varieties released for southern Australia in
2011. Highlights are from the fully analysed 2011 season. The 2011 Southern Pulse Agronomy
Program had 40 trials across south-eastern Australia at 18 sites addressing key management issues associated with the 5 pulse crops: lentil, field pea, chickpea, faba bean and lupin.
Growing season rainfall was generally below average at all trial sites. However, extreme summer rainfall meant that the soil profiles at all sites were close to field capacity at sowing in 2011.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
Lentils
Crop Topping – No response to crop-topping at the recommended timing was noted in Victoria and only one line (CIPAL0607) showed reduced yield in SA in 2011. Long term,
Nugget has the highest average yield loss from crop-topping at recommended timings. PBA Blitz , the earliest maturing variety, shows the least yield loss from crop-topping, and is therefore considered better suited to this practice. PBA Jumbo has also shown it is
better suited to crop-topping that Nugget. Group B Herbicide Tolerance - Trials demonstrated the improvements in tolerance of the
new varieties, PBAHeraldXT , CIPAL1101 and CIPAL1102 compared with an intolerant commercial variety (PBA Flash ). None of the Imi treatments resulted in a significant grain yield loss for the tolerant varieties, despite some minor to moderate visual
symptoms of crop damage being observed (e.g. Imi mix at the higher application rate). In addition, the improved Imi tolerance results in improved tolerance to most sulfonylureas
and triazolopyrimides assessed in these trials. Sowing Dates – Earlier sowing was important to maximising grain yield in lentils in the
2011 season across all regions. Generally the mid maturing line CIPAL0803 was highest or
equal highest yielding at all sites. Grain yields were greater than 2t/ha in the drier regions and up to 4.5 t/ha in the medium rainfall, key lentil production zones.
Stubble –Residue, both standing and slashed, was again important to maximising grain yield in lentils in 2011. Yield gains of 15-20% compared with burnt stubble were recorded in both Vic and SA, along with delayed maturity. Similar to 2010, in SA PBA Blitz was the
most responsive variety. A different early maturing genotype CIPAL0901 was most responsive in Vic.
PBA SUMMER 2013 NEWS Page 16
Chickpeas
Sowing Dates - Early sowing was generally beneficial and maximised yield potential, however responses were not as great as seen in previous seasons.
Crop Topping - Some varieties in 2011 did not show yield loss from crop-topping at the
recommended timing, similar to previous seasons. Generally earliest maturating lines showed less yield loss, and latest maturing lines showed the highest yield losses. Despite
these findings, chickpea are still poorly suited to this practice due to their unacceptably high yield losses compared to other pulse crops at the ideal timing for ryegrass control, hence, crop-topping is not recommended for chickpeas.
Fertiliser toxicity - Both desi and kabuli chickpea varieties suffered severe plant establishment reductions from fertiliser placement with the seed and with increasing
fertiliser rates. Disease Management - Under higher disease pressure it is still economically beneficial to
actively manage ascochyta blight through regular fungicide application even in moderately
resistant varieties.
Field peas
Sowing Dates – Generally, early sowing was highest or equal highest yielding in 2011. It is also important to note that blackspot levels were generally low, so fungicide applications were commonly not economic, except the HRZ southern site. It will be important to sow
the new forage peas (e.g. OZP0902) early to maximise biomass production. Stubble – In SA, differences in plant height and lodging were observed throughout the
season which may aid harvestability, particularly in shorter seasons with less biomass, however there were no yield differences in 2011. Retaining anchored standing cereal stubble throughout the year field peas are grown is also seen as having benefits in
reducing damage from wind erosion in regions characterised by light textured soils. Crop Topping – Research continued to support longer term findings that later maturing
varieties are not as well suited to crop-topping as recent earlier maturing releases by abortion of uppermost (immature) pods. Preliminary results from the 2011 trials have shown that mould in pea samples may be associated with plant maturity at timing of crop-
topping. This finding may have implications when crop-topping paddocks which may have varying levels of crop maturity due to variable soil types.
Faba beans
Row Spacing – In SA, increasing row spacing from 22.5cm (9 inch) to 45cm (18 inch) has
resulted in consistent yield losses over the last three years, from 10% average across all varieties in 2009 to 20% in 2011. However it must be noted that wider row spacings form part of a farming systems package that may generate other benefits.
Stubble - Grain yield in the standing stubble trial at Rupanyup averaged 20% more than the burnt stubble trial.
Disease Management - Disease, predominately rust at one site (Rupanyup) resulted in grain yield losses of >20%. Disease was worse in burnt stubble treatments. While there were varieties with less susceptibility to the disease present, it did not confer a grain yield
advantage in the unsprayed treatment.
Lupins
Herbicides - Varietal differences in tolerance to post emergent metribuzin were recorded. It is likely that the response from PE use of metribuzin in lupins is similar to the response observed in lentils, and hinges on the climatic conditions around the time of application.
PBA SUMMER 2013 NEWS Page 17
Development of Herbicide Tolerant Pulses – 2013 Update
Dili Mao, Larn McMurray, Jeff Paull, Chris Preston, Klaus Oldach, Phil Davies (SARDI & Uni Adelaide)
The GRDC funded project DAS00107 was initiated in 2010 as a pulse pre-breeding project targeted at improving and increasing the currently limited chemical weed control options
available in pulse crops. The project aims to achieve this through developing and identifying lines with tolerances to novel herbicides (i.e. not currently registered) in lentils and faba beans. In addition, the project also looks at identifying and developing lines of lentils, faba
beans, chickpeas and field peas with improved tolerance to currently registered herbicides, particularly for herbicides which are known to cause crop damage in conducive seasons. Both
of these technologies will be significants tool for combating the increasing issue of herbicide tolerant weeds, by offering additional integrated weed management strategies, as well as strengthening the benefits of pulse crops as a rotation crop.
The development of novel herbicide tolerances was conducted through two seasons of large-
scale broadacre screening of mutant populations. These populations of mutant lentil (PBA Flash ) and faba bean (Nura ) were created using ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) mutagenesis techniques. During the 2011 season, over 34Ha of land in prime lentil and faba
bean growing regions was utilized for screening. From this, a number of M2 plant selections were made for potential post-emergent (PE) imidazolinone (IMI) tolerance in beans, as well
as PE metribuzin and carfentrazone-ethyl tolerances in lentils. These selections were carried through to seed and the resulting M3 seed was summer multiplied. Progeny tests were conducted using M3 or M4 seed in the 2012 season, with tolerant lines carried through to
seed. Summer multiplication of lines with insufficient seed is in progress to allow dose response tests during the 2013 season.
Opportunistic crosses between putative M3 IMI tolerant lines and elite breeding lines were
made by PBA faba bean breeder, Dr Jeff Paull. These were advanced to F2 seed, and the most promising crosses (identified through progeny testing) are currently being validated,
Tolerant vs Intolerant M3 lentil lines from 2011 field selections after spraying
with a lethal dose of metribuzin
Progeny testing of M3 & M4
seed from 2011 field selections Tolerant vs Intolerant M3 faba bean lines from 2011
field selections after spraying with a lethal dose of
imazapyr
PBA SUMMER 2013 NEWS Page 18
Paddock scouting in 2012 – covering 45 Ha of lentils and 25 Ha of faba beans!
with some looking quite exciting! Crosses have also been made between putative metribuzin tolerant lentils and elite breeding lines, and are currently being advanced to F2 seed for further testing throughout the 2013 season and onwards.
In addition to this, in 2011, a number of field selections were made for PE metribuzin
tolerance in faba beans through field screening a diverse set of faba bean material from the PBA Faba Bean Program. Selections were summer multiplied over 2011/2012 and validated through the spray chamber during the 2012 season. Lines with putative tolerance are
currently in summer multiplication and will undergo a dose response test in 2013. The best of these lines will be used along with the best IMI tolerant lines to try and incorporate
multiple herbicide tolerances into elite breeding lines in the future.
A diverse representative of the M2 populations of lentil and faba bean were
bulked in 2011, allowing a further 70Ha of broadacre screening for other novel herbicides in 2012. A number of selections
have been made for PE dicamba tolerance in faba beans and lentils, PE isoxaflutole
tolerance in lentils and hopefully, by application of more damaging rates of metribuzin, lentil lines with even higher
levels of PE metribuzin tolerance. Selections have undergone summer multiplication
programs to enable progeny testing in the 2013 season.
The project is also continuing to develop repeatable, cost effective and non-destructive screening techniques using controlled environment facilities to enable the screening of large numbers of material from germplasm collections or breeding programs. This is to uncover
accessions or lines that may have high levels of tolerance to currently registered herbicide products. A number of selections with putative tolerances have been made in screens for
post-sowing pre-emergent (PSPE) metribuzin tolerance in lentil, PSPE metribuzin tolerance faba bean and PE metribuzin tolerance in field peas, as well as PSPE simazine tolerance in
chickpeas and faba beans (as table below). The project is now focusing on developing methods for screening accessions for improving PSPE isoxaflutole tolerance in chickpeas and PE diflufenican tolerance in lentils and field peas.
PBA SUMMER 2013 NEWS Page 19
Lines with
putative identified
in Initial screen (~200 accessions)
Lines with significantly improved
tolerance - Spray Chamber Validation
PE Metribuzin tolerance in
Field Pea
10 n/a
PSPE Metribuzin tolerance in
Lentils
12 2
PSPE Metribuzin tolerance in Faba Bean
14 4
PSPE
Simazine tolerance in Chickpea
14 n/a
PSPE Simazine
tolerance in Faba Bean
11 n/a
The current project expires in June 2013, however a large number of lines at various stages of development with putative tolerance to many different novel and registered herbicides will
require multiplication and validation beyond this project before they can be readily used in the PBA programs. Negotiations are currently underway with GRDC to capitalise on these discoveries and also to explore similar opportunities in chickpea.
For further information: Dili Mao, SARDI, [email protected], ph: 08 8842 6264
Initial screen with lentils of ~200 accessions in growth room in Plant Accelerator
Initial screen with chickpeas of ~200 accessions in growth room in Plant Accelerator
PBA SUMMER 2013 NEWS Page 20
Catching up on Canadian Research
Jenny Davidson (SARDI)
Jenny Davidson attended the 9th Canadian Pulse Research Workshop at Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada in November 2012. The workshop, which followed the second meeting of the
Science Advisory Board for the Canadian Pulse Cluster, covered a broad spectrum of the pulse research work occurring in Canada. There were 176 researchers and pulse industry representatives from across Canada in attendance, with 44 oral presentations and 76 posters
presented.
Key observations
Nearly 30% of abstracts at the workshop and Cluster meeting focussed on Pulses and Food,
Nutrition, Human Health, and the benefits of pulses in the diet. This research is being conducted through collaboration between the Guelph Food Research Centre based in Guelph, Ontario, and Faculties of Medicine or Pharmacy in the Universities of Toronto, Saskatchewan
and Mount Saint Vincent, and Cornell in New York. Funding for this research is jointly financed by the Canadian pulse grower associations and the Canadian government. The
emphasis on this research is to achieve a health focus for use in marketing pulse products to North America.
In addition these agencies are investigating biofortification of lentils (and other pulses) as a means of introducing iron and other nutrients to nutrient deficient diets around the world.
Other studies explore the impact of food processing (e.g. milling methods, moisture levels, micronisation or heat treatment using infra red radiation) on the properties of the pulse grains.
Studies on the health benefits of eating pulse grains identified improvements in cholesterol,
arterial stiffness, blood flow and weight loss. Pulse flour was found to have similar health properties to whole grains. Replacing traditional products in processed foods with pulse products enhanced the health benefits, without any loss of flavour or product acceptability.
Pulse flours can be used as value-added food ingredients in functional foods aimed at moderating glycaemic response and increasing satiety.
A lentil based sports bar has been developed that has low glycaemic index and can improve metabolism and performance in a variety of endurance sports. This sports bar is being
marketed through university football teams in Canada.
Murad Al-Katib, President and CEO of Alliance Grain Traders Inc., identified the importance of marketing in the pulse industry. Alliance Grain Traders has 29 processing facilities for pulses and other products, across Canada, Turkey, United States, Australia (Australian Milling
Group), China and South Africa, as well as a European sales office.
New markets into the USA and Europe are rapidly increasing, i.e. bean consumption is increasing in USA due to the Hispanic population, and hommus from chickpea is the fastest growing pulse product in the western world. Other products such as lentil chips and hommus
chips are being produced for the North American market.
The food industry is particularly interested in the profile of pulse grains and using sustainable production as a marketing opportunity i.e. the product is gluten free, has a low allergy
profile, is high in micronutrients, low in fat, is a vegetarian food source, has low glycaemic index, no genetic modification, has comparatively low energy and low water usage in production.
PBA SUMMER 2013 NEWS Page 21
Pulse ingredients such as starch, flour, split grain, protein and fibre are increasingly being used in mainstream products. Pulses are used as a non meat protein source in pet food and
pulse flour is used in pasta. Pulse commodities are being sold as an inclusion protein product rather than as a substitute for wheat, rice or corn - avoiding a competitive market place.
Professor Bert Vandenberg, lentil and faba bean breeder, University of Saskatchewan, focussed on possible competition to pulse crops in Canada. Currently these crops make up
13.5% of the arable land in Canada (the industry aims for 20% of the arable land), mainly in the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta. However, there is the potential for large scale
expansion of pulse production in eastern Europe, e.g. Kazakhstan, Ukraine, where Canadian varieties are already grown. In the 1930’s Russia grew one million acres of lentils, and this production capacity, combined with proximity to markets in the Middle East and Asian
subcontinent presents a significant competitor to the current exporting countries i.e. Canada, Australia and China (the latter exports dry beans). Research on pulse crops is also likely to
expand in these areas, and collaborative partnerships may be necessary to maintain markets.
The next-generation of high throughput molecular technologies has enabled low cost sequencing of crop germplasm and pathogens, and consequently a significant amount of
Canadian pulse research has been funded in this area. Marker assisted selection is about to become a major activity in their pulse breeding programs. By comparison the Australian pulse breeding programs are only just starting to initiate molecular markers. In Canada,
linkage maps have been generated for common bean, chickpea, lentil and field pea and numerous markers have been identified in these crops for use in marker assisted selection.
The lentil genome has mapped locations for seed shape, seed coat colour, days to flower and raffinose family oligosaccharides that cause stomach discomfort and flatulence. Common
bean has been mapped for resistance to common bacterial blight and beneficial antioxidant compounds. In field pea markers have been identified for improved nutritional profiles
(carbohydrate metabolism and protein deposition), increased zinc and iron concentration, and resistance to downy mildew and sclerotinia, while for chickpea markers have been developed for increased zinc and iron concentration and resistance to ascochyta blight
(Ascochyta rabiei). In addition an efficient and simple embryo rescue protocol has been developed for crossing lentil (Lens culinaris) with wild species of Lens. This is an important
step as the narrow genetic basis of the cultivated lentil has hindered advanced breeding.
The pulse breeding programs in Canada have disease resistance or tolerance as a major priority. Field pea production in Canada is affected by similar diseases as in Australia i.e. ascochyta blight (synonym: blackspot (Mycosphaerella pinodes)), downy mildew
(Peronospora viciae) and powdery mildew (Erysiphe pisi). Good progress has been made in producing cultivars with resistance to powdery mildew, but there has been little advancement
in resistance to downy mildew or ascochyta blight. While gene sequencing has identified 5 resistance genes for downy mildew in the field pea genome, some isolates of the downy mildew pathogen are virulent on all resistant sources tested in Canada. No field pea
germplasm with resistance to ascochyta blight has been identified, and although quantitative trait loci (QTL’s) for ascochyta blight and lodging have been identified these only explain 10-
18% of total phenotypic variation. Similarly, no resistance to ascochyta blight exists in the Australian field pea breeding program, although resistance to downy mildew has been partially successful. Root rots are a major concern to field pea production in Canada,
including Fusarium avenaceum, F. solani f. sp. pisi, F. oxysporum f. sp. pisi, Rhizoctonia solani, Pythium spp. and Aphanomyces euteiches f. sp. pisi. Compared to Australia, root rots
may be more serious in Canada since the crops are sown into cold soils after the winter thaw, leading to slow seedling growth. QTL’s have been identified for partial resistance to the
PBA SUMMER 2013 NEWS Page 22
Fusarium spp., and research is also being conducted on fungicidal seed treatments to minimise infection of the seedling roots.
A survey of yellow pea grain samples from across Canada (Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba) found 2% positive infection rate of stem nematode (Ditylenchus sp.). The large
export market to India does not allow entry of field pea grain that is infested with D. dipsaci. Morphological comparison and DNA sequencing identified the species on yellow peas was not D. dipsaci but D. weischeri, which is hosted by the weed Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense).
Lentils exported from Canada to India do not undergo the same D. dipsaci testing, but lentils and field peas exported from Australia to India must all be tested for freedom from this pest.
There is no obvious reason for the disparity between the two exporting countries. The breeding program for dry beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) has a major focus on disease
resistance. Dry beans are susceptible to infection, especially in irrigated crops, from common bacterial blight (Xanthomonas campestris pv. phaseoli), anthracnose (Colletotrichum
lindemuthianum), white mould (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum) and the root rots listed above. As mentioned above, molecular markers have been used to identify lines with resistance to common bacterial blight and this is being pyramided with anthracnose resistance. Markers
are also being used for selection of resistance to bean common mosaic virus. High levels of resistance to soybean cyst nematode (Heterodera glycines) are being targeted in the
germplasm, particularly in the Mesoamerican genotypes. Other breeding traits are the processing quality of grain, market desirability traits, nitrogen fixation ability and nitrogen use efficiency, non-darkening traits of seed as well as high yield. Silver based foliar products
have been used to control common bacterial blight; this research is being conducted in collaboration with private companies.
A number of agronomic studies are being conducted on pulse crops in the Pulse Science Cluster. This includes long term rotation studies investigating reduced tillage, autumn seeded
cover crops, manure compost, narrow row versus wide row beans, and rotation periods of 3 to 6 years between dry bean crops. Data is still to be analysed. The benefit of nitrogen
fixation by pulses in a rotation is being studied as well as investigations on additional herbicides for weed control in pulse crops, currently highly reliant on Group 2 herbicides. Lentil germplasm has been identified with resistance to sulfentrazone herbicide (Group 14),
and both sulfentrazone and pyroxasulfone (Group 15) have the potential to control herbicides in field pea. A wider selection of herbicide actives is also important for Australian pulse crops
and Australian pulse agronomists are also investigating this area.
Symbiotic root colonising fungi i.e. arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and dark septate endophytes (DSE) and their influence on improving plant nutrition, health and tolerance to abiotic stresses is being investigated. Non-protein root extracts from chickpea were found to
stimulate the growth of AM fungi while the only protein extract inhibited growth. Different chickpea genotypes had different levels of colonisation of AM fungi, and DNA sequencing is
underway to test for preferential associations between fungi and chickpea genotypes. In controlled conditions, fungal endophytes, when co-cultured with pulse seed, increased seed viability, germination and plant health. This response was linked to the expression of
antioxidant genes in endophyte inoculated plants. The effect of seed-applied fungicides on AM fungi found that a wide range of fungicides reduced the early development of AM
colonisation in pea and chickpea but the suppressiveness effect depended on the fungicide-AM combinations.
Canada and Australia are often direct competitors for world pulse markets, particularly into South East Asia and the Middle East. Canada produces a great deal more grain (e.g. 526,000
ha of lentils compared to Australian production of 105,000 ha) and so has a significant influence on world grain prices and potential access to markets. However, as indicated
PBA SUMMER 2013 NEWS Page 23
above, a large proportion of the Canadian production is also sold into North America which Australia does not supply. As the world population increases and demand for food also rises, this competition will be less important than increased grain production.
The Canadian research and pulse breeding programs are using similar techniques to Australia
in developing these crops. As well as accessing germplasm from ICARDA and other world accessions, investigations are being conducted in heat tolerance at flowering, visual seed quality, biochemistry of flavours , tissue culture to fast track key populations and
identification of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers for rapid genotyping. However, Canada appears to be ahead of Australia in the development of these markers. In
addition disease resistance to ascochyta and botrytis diseases remains the number one priority in both countries for these crops. The pulse breeding programs in both countries are currently publicly funded and research results are openly accessible. Sharing of information
and collaborative research will allow more rapid development of these crops and increase world production.
Destructive Pea Weevils on the way out
Michael Sinclair-Jones (UWA)
Farmers around the world are a step
closer to eliminating the chemical spraying of field peas for the
destructive pea weevil, thanks to research by agricultural scientists from The University of Western Australia.
The weevils, which affect crops grown
in warmer climates, are the most damaging insect threat to the peas. They burrow into pods that are still
growing and hollow out peas by the time they are harvested or during
storage. Weevil damage is impossible to detect until the next generation of beetles emerges post-harvest, by
which time crop yields and quality have been significantly affected.
So far the only way to control pea weevils is to spray crops with insecticides or fumigate the harvested seeds – an expensive, environmentally unfriendly and only partially effective
practice.
Crop scientists have spent years trying to isolate pea weevil-resistant genes to create stronger field pea varieties that don’t need pesticide protection. Previously they have had to rely on a time-consuming and impractical screening process which slowed attempts to breed
better field peas.
In a research leap that will benefit field pea growers across the globe, a team including Associate Professor Guijun Yan, of UWA’s School of Plant Biology and Institute of Agriculture, has now developed a quick, reliable and cheaper method to screen field pea varieties on a
large scale. The breakthrough has enabled researchers to identify pea weevil-resistant genes within wild field pea varieties and begin introducing the genes to cultivated field peas via
traditional breeding methods.
PBA SUMMER 2013 NEWS Page 24
Associate Professor Yan said more work needed to be done but the discovery meant farmers could have access to pea weevil-resistant pea varieties within 5-7 years. “We have moved
forward,” he said. “We have developed a technique to screen, identified the gene and been able to bring it back to the cultivated pea. The work now needs to continue but it’s a very
good discovery. It will lead to the elimination of pee weevil insecticides, enable farmers to increased their pea yields and provide consumers with better quality peas.”
The previous method of screening for resistant lines of field pea (glasshouse bioassay) meant only about 30 plants – with 20 seeds per plant – could be screened in a day. The new
method, which involves separating pea weevil-infested and non-infested seeds by density in a solution of Caesium chloride, means up to 400 plants – regardless of the number of seeds – can be screened in a day.
The four-year study was funded by the Australian Research Council and published in the
journal Crop and Pasture Science in October 2012. The project’s researchers are: Dr Nader Aryamanesh of the School of Plant Biology and UWA
Institute of Agriculture; Dr Oonagh Byrne of UWA’s Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture and WA’s Department of Agriculture and Food; DC Hardie of UWA’s School of
Animal Biology and WA Department of Agriculture and Food; Adjunct Professor Tanveer Khan of UWA’s Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture; Associate Professor Yan; and Hackett Professor Kadambot Siddique, Director of the UWA’s Institute of Agriculture.
For further information: Associate Professor Guijun Yan UWA (08) 6488 1240
Pulse Breeding Australia (PBA) is an unincorporated joint venture between:
Department of Primary Industries, Victoria (DPI Vic)
South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI)
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Queensland (DAFF QLD)
New South Wales Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI)
Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia (DAFWA)
University of Adelaide
Pulse Australia
University of Sydney and
Grains Research & Development Corporation (GRDC).
Please contact: Fleur Winter, PBA Coordinator [email protected] ph: 0417 926 033 to
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