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New pea and chickpea varieties for 2008

New pea varieties, developed at the Crop Development Centre (CDC) at the University of Saskatchewan in a unique funding agreement with the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers Association, are hitting the market in commercial quantities in 2008. Previously registered, these new varieties have spent the last several years in seed multiplication. Here is a look at the new line-up.

The CDC has worked hard to develop powdery mildew resistant pea varieties. Photo By Bruce Barker.

New yellow pea varieties
In the yellow pea market class, three new varieties will be available to farmers in 2008.

CDC Golden is a yellow pea variety with good yield, lodging and powdery mildew resistance.
Cutlass is another yellow pea variety with good yield, lodging and powdery mildew resistance. Because of its high performance, Cutlass is now the yield check variety in the Saskatchewan and Alberta regional variety trials. It was developed through collaboration between the CDC and Alberta Agriculture.

Yellow pea variety CDC Bronco has good yield, lodging and powdery mildew resistance. Only limited quantities of certified seed may be available in 2008.

On the horizon is CDC Meadow, which is about three days earlier maturing than most other CDC varieties. It was a strong performer in the last three years of provincial regional trials and has shown good yield, lodging and powdery mildew resistance. Certified seed of CDC Meadow should become available
by 2010.

No new green peas, but some in the pipeline
CDC Striker and CDC Montero have been available in commercial quantities for several years.CDC Montero has good yield, maturity and seed quality for the food market. It has very good powdery mildew resistance.

CDC Striker has gained a reputation for having excellent seed quality traits with good bleaching resistance, round seed shape, smooth seed surface and uniform appearance. While susceptible to powdery mildew, CDC Striker has displayed good resistance to fusarium wilt.
CDC Sage is the most recently released green pea variety from the CDC program and certified seed may be available in 2009. It is western Canada’s first green pea variety to combine powdery mildew resistance, good lodging resistance, good seed bleaching resistance and medium to small seed size.

Specialty market peas slow in coming
In the specialty market classes in peas, CDC Acer maple pea and CDC Sonata forage pea are two established varieties.

The closest new specialty pea to commercial market is CDC Rocket. It is a new maple pea variety with good yield, powdery mildew resistance and fair lodging resistance. It is earlier maturing than CDC Acer, with somewhat larger seed size and lighter seed coat colour. Certified seed of CDC Rocket should be available in 2010.

A new choice in chickpea varieties for 2008
CDC Frontier is the newest kabuli chickpea variety in the market. It is a medium size kabuli (eight to nine millimetres) with fern leaf type. With high yield potential both in Brown and Dark Brown soil zones, it also has fair resistance to ascochyta blight similar to Amit (B-90). CDC Frontier has a larger seed size than Amit, but smaller than CDC Xena. Because it has relatively late maturity, seeding CDC Frontier on stubble is recommended, especially in a wet year.

CDC Vanguard is the latest desi variety to be released with breeder seed going out in 2006, and commercial quantities may be available in the next year or two. It is high yielding, medium maturity, a tan seed coat colour, plump seed shape and fair resistance to ascochyta blight. The average seed weight is 230 grams per 1000 seeds. CDC Vanguard has fern type leaves and a slightly spreading growth habit. -end-