IT HAS taken more than 30 years, but the world鈥檚 first hybrid legume has at last arrived, promising to raise yields by as much as 40 per cent.
Legumes are a cheap and vital source of protein for millions of people around the world, especially in Africa and Asia, so high-yielding hybrids could have huge nutritional benefits. But cultivated legumes have always been self-pollinating making it difficult to create hybrids.
Now a hybrid variety of pigeon pea has been developed by Kulbhushan Saxena and colleagues at the , in Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh, India. The key was to create a variety of pea with sterile male parts, which can be fertilised by pollen from other breeds to produce high-yielding, protein-rich hybrids.
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The first hybrid, called , was commercially launched last week by ICRISAT. 鈥淧ushkal is truly the magic pea,鈥� says the institute鈥檚 director, William Dar.