ARS | Publication request: Progress report on enhancing faba bean germplasm for improved winter-hardiness at Pullman, Washington

Submitted to: North American Pulse Improvement Association
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: September 15, 2011
Publication Date: November 3, 2011
Citation: Hu, J., Mcgee, R.J., Landry, E.J., Mweng, J.E., Coyne, C.J. 2011. Progress report on enhancing faba bean germplasm for Improved winter-hardiness at Pullman, Washington. North American Pulse Improvement Association. Biennial Meeting, Nov 3-4, 2011, San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA.

Technical Abstract: Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) has been cultivated from early Neolithic times. Numerous varieties have been selected for adaptation to a wide range of environments worldwide and for different end-uses such as dry grain, vegetable, feed, forage and green manure. The USDA faba bean germplasm collection consists of approximately 750 accessions from sixty countries and is managed by the Western Regional Plant Introduction Station (WRPIS) in Pullman, Washington, USA. Although this collection is small compared to other national genebanks, it captures a considerable amount of genetic diversity of this species at both the morphological and molecular levels. Attempting to develop an alternative, fall-planted rotation crop for the cool-temperate regions, we started to screen for winter hardy germplasm using the natural field conditions of Pullman and Central Ferry and have identified a dozen accessions that have survived through the winter seasons at both locations in the past three years. We tried a novel approach of “mass selection” and obtained numerous plants which survived at three locations in the Palouse region of Washington. These plants were from seeds bulked from 466 accessions and planted in fall of 2010. F3 plants from a cross between a non-winter hardy variety and the most winter hardy breeding line were planted at Pullman and at Central Ferry in fall 2010. Seeds were harvested from three and over 300 of the F3 plants that survived through the winter at Pullman and Central Ferry, respectively.