The greener a green lentil, the more money it commands in the market.
Research by producer Blaine Davey of Wilkie, Sask., and his colleagues at the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre has proved there are strong genetic and agronomic factors in producing healthy green lentil samples.
“(At the university), we looked at how much money was being left on the table or in the marketplace each year by (prairie) farmers due to loss of green lentil seed coat colour desirability,” said Davey, who is also a marketing manager for a local alfalfa products company.
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“It’s estimated that more than $20 million is given up annually (through grade loss to poor colour).”
Excellent quality can translate into a significant price premium.
To reduce the risk of producing lower quality green lentils, Davey said producers should select their varieties carefully.
In a two-year study of 15 lentil varieties, CDC researchers found that 1294M-23, a breeding parent variety used in the university’s breeding program, provided the best green colour, whether it was swathed or desiccated before combining.
CDC Greenland and CDC Grandora were the two registered varieties that scored highest overall in the trials.
CDC Milestone and CDC Vantage delivered the poorest performances in the two years of testing.
To objectively measure seed coat colour, a DuPont Acurum visual analyzer was used to test the harvested samples.
The Acurum told researchers that the older varieties, Laird and Eston, fared well under desiccation but didn’t weather as well as Greenland and Grandora, making the latter a more suitable choice, no matter the harvest tactic chosen.
“Swathing a green lentil field will produce a better green lentil sample than will desiccation with Reglone,” Davey said.
Swathing did not always produce the best results. In specific cases the swathed crop was subject to greater weathering.
He said the genetics tended to provide the most consistent results when it came to good green colour.
“Other research has shown us that we can estimate heritability of the green seed coat colour and breed to maximize the genetic gain for that trait,” Davey said about the potential for breeders to improve the likelihood that farmers will obtain the green colour the market demands.
Variety choices are also made for other agronomic reasons, but Davey said this research sheds specific light on the colour issue.
