Possibilities for winter peas

By Martin Rickatson

25 November 2011

Breeder LSPB is now in the fourth year of a winter pea breeding programme which it hopes could establish the crop as a credible alternative winter break.

“The breeding work is focusing on types which incorporate a photoperiod switch,” explains the firm’s Theo Labuda. “This slows and stops their growth in relation to winter day length, and it then recommences as day length increases.

“We are looking for lines that offer good standing at harvest and early maturity, both of which should allow them to grow further north than current pea varieties. The standing power traits are the ones that particularly need work, and we will be selecting especially for these characteristics in this harvest’s trials.”

Standing power and colour retention also form the backbone of LSPB’s current spring pea breeding focus, said Mr Labuda.