Taking Lentil Higher.

Global trends show lentil consumption increasing, likely due to its status as a quick cooking source of nutritious vegetable protein. Lentil is now widely recognized as an important crop in promoting sustainable agriculture due to its nitrogen fixing ability.  Lentil is widely grown in South Asia where it is a dietary staple, and is now popular in North America as a valuable export crop and part of a sensible rotation.  Continuing efforts on genetic improvement in lentil have become more important than ever in order to support food and nutritional security, environmental sustainability, and economic prosperity.

In Saskatchewan, much of the breeding emphasis was originally placed on developing varieties that were adapted to a northern temperate climate.  In S. Asia, a similar emphasis was placed on adaptation to the sub-tropical savannah ecosystem.  Over time, use of a narrow range of locally adapted germplasm reduces genetic diversity and genetic gain.  Using un-adapted germplasm in breeding can be both risky and onerous as it involves multiple backcrosses and intensive phenotyping to retain adaptation characteristics in the progeny.  We have recently experienced a dramatic increase in genomic resources for lentil.  It should now be possible for the breeders to use molecular tools to identify both adapted and genetically diverse breeding materials for efficient varietal development.

Building upon successful sequencing of the lentil genome, we recently embarked on AGILE (Application of Genomics to Innovation in the Lentil Economy).  We are phenotypically and genotypically characterizing genetic variability within cultivated and wild lentil germplasm to determine the genetic basis of domestication and adaptation.  We will use the information to develop genomic tools to allow breeders to efficiently use exotic germplasm and wild relatives.   We expect that the results of our work will contribute to global lentil genetic improvement, conservation of biodiversity, and global food security.