Legume breeding for broomrape resistance

Abstract

Legume cultivation is hampered in Mediterranean regions by the occurrence of the root parasitic weeds Orobanche crenata (crenate broomrape) and Orobanche foetida (foetida broomrape). Strategies of control have been developed but only marginal successes have been achieved. Most control methods are unfeasible, uneconomical, and hard to achieve or result in incomplete protection. Breeding for resistance is possible, but is hampered by the lack of sufficient levels of resistance, the complexity of its inheritance and the unreliability of available screening methods. Recent achievements in the identification of resistance levels and their deployment in breeding programmes will be presented and critically discussed.