Evaluation of seed yield and seed yield components in red–yellow (Pisum fulvum) and Ethiopian (Pisum abyssinicum) peas

Abstract

Red–yellow (Pisum fulvum Sibth. et Sm.) and Ethiopian (Pisum abyssinicum A. Br.) peas have become of increasing interest to breeders in the last decade, as they have been found to be partially or completely tolerant to various biotic stresses, such as to attack by pea weevil, mildew blight or rust. A trial was carried out at the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops at Rimski Sancevi from 2005 to 2007, with 13 accessions each of red–yellow and Ethiopian peas sown at 100 viable seeds m−2, in plots of 0.5 m2. Seed yield per plant in red–yellow pea was significantly and positively correlated with seed number per plant (r = 0.881**), pod number per plant (r = 0.839**) and number of fertile nodes (r = 0.820**). The highest positive correlation among the agronomic characteristics in Ethiopian pea was between number of fertile nodes and number of pods (r = 0.937**). Seed yield in Ethiopian pea was highly significantly correlated with number of seeds (r = 0.807**), pods (r = 0.692*), and fertile nodes (r = 0.638*). The results suggest that plant morphology of the progenies between red–yellow or Ethiopian peas and grain-type common pea could not differ significantly from that of individual parents. That means that it could be possible to develop hybrid lines that could keep the desirable morphological traits of grain-type common pea, such as lodging-tolerance and high seed yields, and to make an introgression of a specific resistance from wild pea taxa, especially by back-crosses with the former. However, one must always be aware of unpredicted outcomes as a result of rather different genetic basis of individual seed yield components.