Pulse Genetics pea variety evaluation
Pete Giesbrecht, Winkler
To evaluate performance of 6 advanced lines compared to registered varieties in the pea growing regions of Southwestern Manitoba and Eastern Saskatchewan.
Results obtained in 2019 showed no significant differences in pea height or mildew and mycosphaerella disease incidence among the seven varieties. Disease incidences recorded were moderate for mycosphaerella and low to moderate for mildew. Days required to reach maturity were significantly different among pea lines and varieties (P=0.016). The earliest maturing variety was Meadow and it required 89 days to reach maturity but this was not significantly different from PG2908, PG2601 and PG3312 that required 89-90 days (Table 5.1a). The late maturing lines (PG3308 and PG6150) required 91 days to reach maturity. Six of the treatments were highly susceptible to lodging (5-7) and this could be a challenge during harvesting and might also result in poor quality of the seed. Treatment PG2601 had significantly lower lodging rating (3) compared to other treatments. This is a desirable characteristic which is considered by most farmers when selecting pea varieties to grow because it may have an impact on yield, quality, disease incidence and harvestability of field peas. There were significant differences in pea seed yield and the highest yielding treatments were Meadow, PG2908 and PG2601 with 5073, 5141.2 and 5110.2 kg ha-1 respectively. Protein content was also significant and ranged from 22.6% for Meadow to 24% for PG6150.
Pulse Genetics is a small pea breeding company based in Southern Manitoba that started as a dream in a hobby garden 9 years ago. Their goal is to develop yellow and green pea varieties with excellent protein and yield, with an emphasis on premium seed quality. These new lines will exhibit consistent performance over a variety of environments. Selection of appropriate pea varieties should be based on review of many differences that exist among varieties (Schatz, 2009). Apart from yield being the most important selection criteria, traits related to seed quality are increasingly meaningful. Among the varieties and pea lines there exist differences in crude protein and other chemical compounds that determine the nutritional value of the seed. When selecting varieties for production in different areas, farmers do not only consider yield potential, but are also concerned with protein content which is a critical grading criteria when marketing their product. Other important factors for consideration when selecting varieties include market class, 23 harvest ease, lodging characteristics, maturity and resistant to diseases such as mycosphaerella blight, which is a serious disease that results in severe seed losses (Xue and Warkentin, 2001)