Faba bean Breeding

Welcome

It is a great pleasure to invite you all faba bean breeding at King Saud University.


The workshop is a forum for assessing the "state of the art" concerning faba bean production, for identifying research issues, for establishing research priorities and for promoting collaborative research among international scientists and industry.

Faba Bean Improvement Programme

Introduction

The broad-seeded varieties of faba beans (Vicia faba) have been cultivated in the Mediterranean areas for many years, under the name of 'broad bean'. Like peas, faba beans have become an important protein crop known as 'field bean' or simply 'bean' in Europe, and they are cultivated mainly in England. China provides half of the 4.3 million tonnes produced worldwide.


Faba beans have a tremendous genetic potential for developing resistance to disease and abiotic stress. In addition, breeding of varieties with tannin-free seeds and, more recently, with a low vicine-convicine content, offers new perspectives in animal nutrition

The faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is one of the oldest crops grown by man and is used as a source of protein in human diet, as fodder and forage crop for animals, and for available nitrogen in the biosphere. Its critical role in crop rotation, reducing energy cost, improving soil physical conditions and decreasing the amount of diseases and weed populations has long been recognized. In spite of its potential, the total area of faba bean cultivation has steadily decreased in many countries over the last century. To turn Vicia faba into a perfect candidate for a sustainable agriculture, the crop should be attractive both to producers and to users (human or animal nutrition). This goal could be achieved through the development of genotypes resistant to diseases and abiotic constrains such as over-wintering ability, frost resistance and drought avoidance, and free of anti-nutritional factors.


Objectives

- Nutritionally active factors. Definition and achievement of different seed qualities for different markets
- Ecological and energetic gains in cropping systems
- Management and maintenance of Genetic Resources
- Breeding. Population improvement and participatory breeding. Adaptation to abiotic stresses
- Management of Vicia faba diseases and pests in sustainable agriculture
- The potential of biotechnologies for genetic improvement

- Promote existing networks on faba bean by joining skills (pathology, genetics, physiology, chemistry, agronomy);
- facilitate exchanges and sharing of methodologies and strategies between leguminous crops;
- identify priorities in faba bean breeding, management and marketing

SOYBEAN IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMME

Introduction

Soybean (Glycine max) is a species of legume native to Eastern Asia. It is an annual plant that may vary in growth habit and height. Like corn and some other crops of long domestication, the relationship of the modern soybean to wild-growing species can no longer be traced with any degree of certainty. It is a cultural variety (a cultigen) with a very large number of cultivars. However, it is known that the progenitor of the modern soybean was a vine-like plant that grew prone on the ground. Beans are classed as pulses whereas soybeans are classed as oilseeds. The word soy is derived from the Japanese word shoyu (soy sauce/soya sauce).

The oil and protein content together account for about 60% of dry soybeans by weight; protein at 40% and oil at 20%. The remainder consists of 35% carbohydrate and about 5% ash. Soybean cultivars comprise approximately 8% seed coat or hull, 90% cotyledons and 2% hypocotyl axis or germ.

Soybeans are an important global crop. It is grown for its oil and protein. The bulk of the crop is solvent extracted for vegetable oil and then defatted soy meal is used for animal feed. A very small proportion of the crop is consumed directly for food by humans. Soybean products, however, appear in a large variety of processed foods.

Soybeans have been a crucial crop in eastern Asia since long before written records, and they are still a major crop in China, Korea, and Japan today. Soy was not actually used as a food item until they discovered fermentation techniques around 2000 years ago. Prior to fermented products such as soy sauce, tempeh, natto, and miso, soy was considered sacred for its use in crop rotation as a method of fixing nitrogen. The plants would be plowed under to clear the field for food crops. Soy was first introduced to Europe in the early 1700s and the United States in 1765, where it was first grown for hay. Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter in 1770 mentioning sending soybeans home from England. Soybeans did not become an important crop outside of Asia until about 1910. In America, soy was considered an industrial product only and not utilized as a food prior to the 1920's.

Chickpea Improvement Programme

Introduction

Gram or Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is traditionally grown in different parts of the world covering Asia, Europe and North and South America. The bulk of it is however, produced and consumed in South Asia and increasingly in Middle East and some Mediterranean countries. India is the largest producer of chickpea in the world. Dal, besan (flour), crushed or whole gram, boiled or parched, roasted or cooked, salted or unsalted or sweet preparations and green foliage and grain, as vegetables, are the important forms in which it is consumed by the people. Germinated seeds are recommended to cure scurvy. Malic and oxalic acids collected from green leaves are prescribed for intestinal disorders. Soaked grain and husk are fed to horses and cattle as concentrate and roughage, respectively

Systematic research work on chickpea was started under the ambit of the All-India Co-ordinated Pulses Improvement Project commissioned in 1967. Initially, the Programme was launched at 12 centres located in SAUs; headquarters of the project was at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. During 1972, the number of main and sub-centres went up to 7 and 9. In 1977, the project was upgraded Project Directorate and its headquarters was shifted to Regional Research Station of the IARI at Kanpur. During VI Plan the main centres, sub-centres and off-season nurseries increased to 15, 13 and 3. During VII Plan, 2 new centres were added and 2 others were provided with additional funds. In 1984, the office of the Project Director which is the headquarters of the AICPIP was redesignated as Directorate of Pulses Research (DPR). Realizing the importance of chickpea, an independent All-India Co-ordinated Project was launched in 1993 with 9 mandatory and 12 verifying centres.