Genetic options for combating biotic stresses in cool-season food legumes

Abstract

Cool-season food legumes, mainly faba bean (Vicia faba), chickpea (Cicer arietinum), field pea (Pisum sativum), lentil (Lens culinaris) and grass pea (Lathyrus sativus), are economically and ecologically important crops in many countries. However, a number of biotic stresses (diseases, insects and parasitic weeds) constrain their productivity at farm level. Breeding efforts have been underway for many decades to address these biotic stresses at national and international levels. As the result a number of improved varieties are developed and released along with proper crop management and protection practices. Due to the appearances of new pathogen population; absence of resistance sources for pests in the cultigen for pests with wide host range and emerging pests, continued breeding efforts have been required to come up with new cultivars. Molecular markers have started playing a major role to facilitate deploying complex traits to adaptive cultivars background. The purpose of this review is, therefore, to shed light on research progresses and challenges in cool season food legume breeding to major diseases, insect pests and parasitic weeds.