Evaluation of Lathyrus germplasm for yield, quality and drought tolerance

Grass pea (Lathyrus sativus) represents a promising legume crop for resource-limited farmers due to its resilience against various environmental stresses. It is valued for its high protein content and unique nutritional profile, including being the sole known dietary source of L-homoarginine. However, its cultivation remains constrained compared to other pulse crops due to the neurotoxic amino acid β-N-oxalyl-L-α, β-diaminopropionic acid (β-ODAP), which can induce neurolathyrism upon excessive consumption of seeds and green tissues. The objective was to screen these accessions for traits crucial to breeding programs like low ODAP content, high yield potential, and drought tolerance. The present investigation on grasspea carried out at Instructional cum Research Farm, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur (C.G) during rabi season to screen 89 germplasm/accessions along with check Prateek for low ODAP, high yield and drought tolerance. Screening of genotypes revealed that sufficient amount of variability was present for ODAP content, yield and drought tolerance. 20 most drought tolerant, low ODAP and high yielding genotypes were selected which should be used in future breeding programme.