| Crop | Dry Bean |
|---|---|
| Start Date | 2013 |
| End Date | 2018 |
| Principal Investigator | Conner, Robert, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada |
| MPSG Financial Support | $75,000 |
| Total Project Funding | $203,993 |
| External Funding Partners | Agriculture and Agri‐Food Canada through the AgriInnovation Program |
| Report | 12-Pea-Fibre-Utilization-in-Poultry-Beef-Pork | PB_80_Spring-2017_250x326 |
Research Objectives
The main objective is to evaluate co-op entries, germplasm lines, genetic material and advanced breeding lines from AAFC breeding programs for their reactions to anthracnose, common bacterial blight (CBB) and white mould, and to develop new methods for controlling halo blight in dry beans. Each year from 2013 to 2015, 24 to 28 entries from the Long Season Wide Row Dry Bean Coop (LSWRC) were evaluated in replicated field tests at Morden, Winkler, Carman and Portage La Prairie for the incidence and severity of CBB.
Project Description
Multiple controlled environmental tests of 80 to 92 entries from three dry bean cooperative tests were examined for their seedling reactions to bean anthracnose races 73 and 105 in order to identify entries with anthracnose resistance. Similarly each year, entries in the LSWRC also were assessed for incidence and severity of white mould in replicated tests at an irrigated field nursery. The results from each of these disease tests were submitted as parts of comprehensive reports to the Prairie Recommending Committee for Pulse and Special Crops of the Prairie Grain Development Committee where they were used in considerations of the registration of new dry bean cultivars in Canada. The results of these studies were used to support the registration of the new AAFC bean cultivars AAC Whitehorse, AAC Burdett and AAC Black Diamond 2 and will be used to support the registration of six candidate dry bean cultivars from AAC-Morden and AAFC-Lethbridge in 2016.
The identification of new sources of resistance and evaluating their effectiveness in reducing losses in seed yield and quality is an important goal of this sub-activity. A three-year field study determined that certain sources of CBB resistance were more effective than others in reducing disease severity and losses in seed yield and quality. This study demonstrated that CBB reduced the yields of susceptible cultivars by up to 36%, while losses in the most resistant dry bean lines ranged from 0% to 17%.
Each year, advanced breeding lines of dry beans from AAFC breeding programs in Morden and Lethbridge were evaluated for CBB resistance in disease nurseries. This research provided supporting data that resulted in the registration of Black Diamond 2, which was the first CBB resistant black bean cultivar in Canada. In collaboration with breeders, artificial screening for anthracnose resistance was also conducted and new genetic material was identified and used for breeding and genetic mapping.
The monitoring of the prevalent pathotypes of the anthracnose fungus in Canada is another important objective of this sub-activity. Each year, surveys of up to 40 commercial bean fields in Manitoba are carried out to monitor foliar disease and collect and identify anthracnose isolates. The results of the bean disease surveys are published each year and a scientific manuscript on the identification and prevalence of different anthracnose races in Manitoba and Ontario is in preparation.
Research activities on foliar diseases of dry beans at AAFC-Morden also supported the studies of two PDFs and three MSc students (two from the University of Guelph and one from North Dakota State University).