Understanding quality determinants in pea seeds to improve market opportunities that promote sustainable agriculture (QDiPS)

Seed quality traits have been identified as a driver for making changes to agricultural systems, such that sustainability might be increased substantially through a greater use of pulse crops in rotations. Currently, both home and export premium markets exist for pulses of high quality, which can impact on choices in rotations. This project aims to identify the scientific basis for seed quality parameters in the three main pea crops for human food use - vining, canning and dried pulses. The project will identify compounds that are positively or negatively associated with quality and provide information on how these change in seeds as they mature and under different growing conditions. The work will link genetical and metabolomic scientific studies with industrial assessments of quality, through studies of materials grown and harvested according to current industrial standards by the industrial partners. Genetically marked lines will be used for metabolite profiling and for industrial sensory analysis. In this way, genes and markers linked to quality will be identified. The role of candidate genes will be explored by industrial analysis of variant lines, including some near-isogenic lines that are already available as laboratory stocks. Linking quality characters to biochemical and genetic information will facilitate the more robust and rapid identification of superior lines, by enabling the deployment of genetic markers in marker assisted selection. This will lead to greater efficiency in breeding programmes aimed at quality food markets. It will also provide opportunity to develop more robust methods for assessing maturity rapidly in the field. The identity of genes and markers associated with quality will provide opportunities to manipulate the genes in the biochemical pathways via mutagenesis and to identify novel sources of natural variation within germplasm. The impact of improvements to systems for quality assessment in pulses, and the reality of meeting current and increased market demands on UK sustainable agriculture, will be explored. Predictive modelling of the consequences of changes to rotations, land maps and land-use efficiency data will be used in a scoping study, building on socio-economic data and models currently under development in relation to climate change.

The project will identify compounds that are positively or negatively associated with quality and provide information on how these change in seeds as they mature and under different growing conditions. The work will link genetical and metabolomic scientific studies with industrial assessments of quality, through studies of materials grown and harvested according to current industrial standards by the industrial partners. Genetically marked lines will be used for metabolite profiling and for industrial sensory analysis. In this way, genes and markers linked to quality will be identified. The role of candidate genes will be explored by industrial analysis of variant lines, including some near-isogenic lines that are already available as laboratory stocks. Linking quality characters to biochemical and genetic information will facilitate the more robust and rapid identification of superior lines, by enabling the deployment of genetic markers in marker assisted selection. This will lead to greater efficiency in breeding programmes aimed at quality food markets. It will also provide opportunity to develop more robust methods for assessing maturity rapidly in the field. The identity of genes and markers associated with quality will provide opportunities to manipulate the genes in the biochemical pathways via mutagenesis and to identify novel sources of natural variation within germplasm. The impact of improvements to systems for quality assessment in pulses, and the reality of meeting current and increased market demands on UK sustainable agriculture, will be explored. Predictive modelling of the consequences of changes to rotations, land maps and land-use efficiency data will be used in a scoping study, building on socio-economic data and models currently under development in relation to climate change.

The support of UK pulse crop improvement is necessary to achieve the public good associated with these crops, that is the reduction in the environmental footprint of agriculture. Agriculture contributes about 75% of EU N2O emission (Crutzen et al 2007), and nitrogen fertiliser accounts for at least 40% of the energy demand of crop production. Increasing the contribution of pulses to rotations reduces emissions in two ways: the additional area given to pulses corresponds to a reduction in the area of nitrogen fertilisation, and pulses contribute nitrogen to the following crop reducing its fertiliser demand. Thus pulses are valuable break crop alternatives in rotations, when input costs are becoming prohibitively expensive. Although a choice in favour of pulses offers fertiliser cost savings for two crops, this has to be balanced against the perceived problems of pulse crops and access to premium markets. The crop value represents the incentive to farmers to grow legume crops. The value of field and vining crops is linked to many factors but, if quality is not high, crops may fail to reach the high premium markets and be graded as low value animal feed. Further incentives for farmers to choose to grow pulses could include assurance that the crop can access the market prices and profit margins that are intrinsically linked to quality food markets. Additional drivers exist with a high-value frozen food industry for home-produced crops. Together these factors can contribute to both the economic and environmental sustainability of farming. Paradoxically, although there is a wealth of genetic and biochemical information available for seed characteristics in several pulse crop species, measurement of pulse seed quality for vegetable use is often determined by visual and sensory data for which the underpinning biological processes are poorly defined. This is because the decision to harvest must be taken rapidly and on-farm, but the mapping of biochemical and organoleptic profiles to these on-farm measures are poor, and insensitive to the extremes of weather conditions at or just prior to harvest. As a consequence of this, there is a lack of genetic information to support and facilitate the selection of lines with superior quality. Seed quality traits can act as the driver for making changes to agricultural systems. Demand for high quality in the vegetable market persists and, consequently, systems for measuring quality must be robust and meaningful. This project will examine the scientific basis for seed quality parameters in pulses, by identifying compounds in seeds that are linked to quality, and by forging a link between genetical and metabolomic scientific studies and industrial assessments of quality. Linking quality characters to biochemical and genetic information will facilitate the more robust and rapid identification of superior lines, by enabling the deployment of genetic markers in marker assisted selection within breeding programmes. This proposal also aims to determine the impact of improvements to systems for quality assessment in pulses. It addresses the reality of meeting current and increased market demands, on UK sustainable agriculture by predictive modelling of the consequences of changes to rotations. Land maps and land-use efficiency data will be used in a scoping study to determine the impact of increased pulse area on the environment, building on socio-economic data and models currently under development in relation to climate change.