Grass pea
Unlocking the potential of the most drought tolerant legume.
The primary purpose of the grass pea programmes is to promote the welfare and economic development of people in Sub-Saharan Africa. We will achieve this by developing grass pea, an orphan crop that is ideally suited for the sustainable intensification of agriculture in agronomically challenging environments.
This deep-rooting and soil-enriching legume crop will enhance food-security, through reducing the risk of crop failure by improving water management through its drought tolerance while also improving soil nutrient management through symbiotic nitrogen fixation and phosphate mobilisation.
- Develop genotypic markers to allow marker assisted selection.
- Measure performance of low-OADP genotypes under agricultural stress conditions
- Assess new agronomic applications of grass pea
- Create new variations for beneficial traits
- Set up a genome editing platform for grass pea
The mounting challenge of climate change increases the need for crops that can be grown sustainably and withstand weather extremes.
Grass pea (Lathyrus sativus) is the most drought-tolerant legume crop, and shows remarkable tolerance to flooding. Because of these traits, it often remains one of the most available foods and the cheapest source of protein, helping people survive during food shortages.
All these characteristics make it an ideal crop for agriculture where farming inputs (fertiliser, pesticides, irrigation, etc.) are limited.
Soil health
Grass pea is able to fix nitrogen from the air (through symbiosis with nodulating bacteria), can efficiently use soil phosphate through its mycorrhizal associations, can penetrate into hard, heavy soil and is relatively tolerant to pests and diseases.
As a deep-rooting pulse crop suited to heavy soils, the expansion of grass pea production will contribute substantially to regenerating compressed and nitrogen-poor soils for agriculture. This will make agricultural land use more sustainable and allow more depleted and marginal land to be brought into productive use, thus facilitating sustainable intensification of agriculture.
ODAP toxicity
Despite its value for food and nutritional security, grass pea carries the stigma of a potentially dangerous food. Its seeds and leaves contain a neurotoxic compound, Beta-ODAP. While it is safe to consume as part of a mixed diet this toxin can cause a debilitating disease known as neurolathyrism.
This disease only appears in people who are malnourished and consume large amounts of grass pea over several months. Yet the fear of neurolathyrism, which has been known since antiquity, has led to grass pea being undervalued by farmers, breeders and scientists.
This project aims to remove the limitations of this crop by using the tools and resources we have already developed to breed new varieties that are low in beta ODAP and safe to consume.