New Varieties in the New Year for Producers - PulsePoint
December 17, 2018
Plenty of pulse crop options to add to your rotation
by Geoff Geddes
Through the Variety Release Program Saskatchewan Pulse Growers and the Crop Development Centre at the University of Saskatchewan, have made over 120 pulse varieties available to growers royalty-free as part of a 15-year breeding agreement. As farmers make their seeding decisions for the coming year, there are some intriguing options to consider.
Peas
Pea growers have a number of variety options for 2019 in many market classes that are widely adapted to Western Canada.
“For yellow pea certified seed, CDC Inca and CDC Saffron will be widely available in 2019. Both offer high yield, good lodging resistance, and good resistance to seedcoat breakage,” says Dr. Tom Warkentin, Professor in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources at the
University of Saskatchewan. “CDC Amarillo is similar but with only fair resistance to seedcoat breakage.”
Certified seed of CDC Meadow is another yellow pea variety providing high yield and early maturity. It is also the most widely grown yellow pea over the past five years.
“In contrast, CDC Spectrum and CDC Athabasca will be at registered seed level in 2019, with certified seed becoming available in 2020. They feature high yield and good lodging resistance,” said Warkentin. “Spectrum also boasts high protein content, while Athabasca is known for its jumbo seed size.”
The aptly named CDC Canary is a yellow pea that offers similar benefits to Spectrum and Athabasca, and is particularly suited to northern regions due to its early maturity.
“With green peas, certified seed of CDC Raezer and CDC Limerick are available, boasting strong resistance to lodging and bleaching. The former is an excellent seed type with moderately high yields, while the latter features excellent yields and the highest available protein content,” says Warkentin.
A good certified seed option among green peas is CDC Greenwater, bringing high yields, early maturity, good lodging, bleaching resistance, and fair resistance to seedcoat breakage. Two other notables are CDC Spruce (registered seed) and CDC Forest (foundation seed). They both include high yields, early maturity, good lodging resistance, fair resistance to seedcoat breakage, and good bleaching resistance. In particular, Warkentin rates CDC Forest as a very good seed type.
Growers looking for maple pea options can choose from CDC Mosaic, a moderately high yielding variety with good lodging resistance, and CDC Blazer, the highest yielding maple pea.
“Among other pea varieties, CDC Jasper is a forage pea known for its high biomass, small seed size, and good lodging resistance. CDC Dakota is a dun pea that promises high yield, good lodging resistance, and high protein content.”
Finally, Redbat 8 and Redbat 88 are two red pea varieties that deliver good yields and fair-to-good lodging resistance. These are licensed to ILTA Grain Inc.
Lentils
“A new small red lentil just becoming available is CDC Redmoon,” says Laurie Friesen, Seed Program and Research Project Manager with Saskatchewan Pulse Growers. “Though it is not herbicide resistant, it is the highest yielding small red variety, with yields at 114 per cent of the check (CDC Maxim) in the southern regions of the province, and 106 per cent in the north. It is a variety that growers should really consider.”
Chickpeas
“In the past couple of years, CDC Leader and CDC Orion have become the dominant Kabuli varieties for seeded acres, followed by smaller acres of CDC Frontier and CDC Luna,” says Dr. Bunyamin Tar’an, Professor with the College of Agriculture and Bioresources at the University of Saskatchewan. “Both CDC Leader and CDC Orion have medium-to-large seeds with good yield and are earlier maturing than CDC Frontier.”
As Tar’an explains, 2018 was marked with warm, dry conditions in most chickpea growing areas, making the crop mature slightly earlier than normal, with less disease in general, but some pressures on yield.
“CDC Palmer is the newer Kabuli cultivar with good yield potential and medium-tolarge (9-10 millimetres) seed size. The seed is a light cream-beige colour with typical ram-head Kabuli seed shape. It is earlier maturing than CDC Orion and moderately resistant to Ascochyta blight. CDC Palmer is well adapted to all current chickpea growing regions of Brown and Dark Brown soil zones of Saskatchewan. In 2019, it is anticipated there will be ample supply of CDC Leader, CDC Orion, and CDC Palmer.”
For the Desi-type, CDC Consul is the latest released cultivar. It has a light tan seedcoat colour, which is one of the desirable visual seed characteristics of the type. Long-term yield average of CDC Consul is 108 per cent of the check cultivar (Amit) in both Brown and Dark Brown soil zones. Seed size of CDC Consul on average is 300 grams per 1,000 seeds, with a long-term Ascochyta score of 4.0.
Dry Beans
Your choice of a dry bean variety will depend on a couple of key factors.
“The first criteria is irrigated versus nonirrigated,” says Dr. Kirstin Bett, Professor in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources at the University of Saskatchewan. Then there is the question of wide-row or narrow-row. Most dryland farming will be narrow-row, but those in irrigation farming favour wide-row. “I have been breeding beans for narrow-row for years now, so there are varieties out there that are fine for that purpose, and you do not need specialized equipment if you opt for narrow-row.”
For dryland production in 2019 CDC Blackstrap is an available option. While not technically a new variety, it has been given a new lease on life thanks to recent success. “That variety just kind of blew up this year, in a good way,” says Bett. “People are trying it all over the province. North Battleford did very well with CDC Blackstrap, and it matured well in Nipawin.” While there is some risk to growing a dry bean like CDC Blackstrap, Bett believes it is less risky than soybeans and offers a greater upside.
“Soybeans can be hit and miss, but we have been breeding dry beans for years so they have really adapted to their environment. CDC Blackstrap is fine on narrow rows and can be direct combined. Producers have been doing quite well with it as opposed to some others where they swath or undercut, which is what they are doing in the irrigated regions,” says Bett.
Then there is CDC Ray, a Flor de Junio seed that caters to a niche Hispanic market in the United States and Mexico.
“This is a high value speciality bean that yields very well, and probably benefits most from being a wide-row option. I would keep it under irrigation, which is generally the case for wide-row. At the same time, I have seen it in narrow rows in our test plots and the yield has been tremendous. I am not aware of that being tried anywhere else yet, but it is the first year that CDC Ray is commercially available, so someone may experiment with narrow-row down the road.”
Faba Beans
At present, the leading variety for zero-tannin faba beans is Snowbird, a small‑seeded variety which offers high yield. A new zero-tannin faba bean variety that will have similar yield, but with a smaller seed size, was released in 2018 and should be commercially available in the near future.
In spring 2018, large-seeded food-type (normal tannin) faba bean varieties were released to growers. “The industry is moving to varieties that are low in vicine and convicine, which can cause health concerns for a small segment of the population,” says Friesen. “This is a big, positive change that will open up new markets and applications for faba beans. It offers the potential for applications such as fractionation into starch and protein concentrates, or milled to produce flour which can be used as ingredients to boost protein levels in food products. Because this protein will be low in vicine and convicine, food manufacturers can rest assured that it is safe for human consumption.”
For a listing of all select seed growers and the varieties they carry, producers can consult the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers’ Select Seed Grower directory at saskpulse.com.
Also, under the Growing Pulses section of the website, growers can click on the Seeding section for more detailed information on pulse varieties.
The dawn of another year is always exciting, but if one of these new pulse varieties can boost your bottom line in 2019, that is something to celebrate.