Breeding Winter Hardy Annual Cover Crops: Cereal Rye and Winter Peas

Commodities

• Agronomic: peas (field, cowpeas), rye

Practices

• Crop Production: cover crops

Cereal rye (Secale cereale) is the most popular and
winter hardy cover crop. Alternating cover crop species in a crop
rotation diversifies the ecosystem services from cover crops.
Winter pea (Pisum sativum L.) is a popular winter annual
legume cover crop due to its ability to fix nitrogen. However,
current cultivars exhibit inconsistent winter survival in the
northeast US. This study will conduct genome-wide association
studies on winter peas to discover pea germplasm with cold
temperature and freeze-thaw tolerance and locate genetic markers
for cold tolerance. The identified germplasm and genetic markers
can be utilized for accelerated breeding of winter hardy peas
adapted to northeast US in the future.

In the northeast US, corn and other major cash crops are
harvested late in the fall, leaving a small planting window for
winter cover crops. When planted late, winter cover crops,
including cereal rye, often experience below-freezing
temperatures on most nights during germination and in their early
growth stages. This can limit the establishment, ground cover,
and biomass production of cereal rye. Selecting the cereal rye
accessions for cold temperature germination and vigor can lead to
the development of a cultivar with a higher level of winter
hardiness than current cultivars. Such cultivars can be planted
later in the fall without reducing their cover and overall
benefits. These projects will benefit northeast farmers of the US
who are planting winter peas and cereal rye, either for cover
crops or any other purposes.

1. Discover pea germplasm with cold temperature and freeze-thaw
   tolerance for breeding winter annual cover crop varieties.
2. Locate genetic markers for cold temperature tolerance in
   winter pea to accelerate breeding of winter hardy pea cultivars.
3. Identify efficient methods to breed cereal rye for cold
   temperature germination rate and vigor and develop rye cultivars
   with improved growth at late fall planting dates in the Northeast
   US.