Exploring resistance sources against the devastating field pea disease Ascochyta blight, and developing tools for genomics-led breeding of resistant cultivars

Food security remains a major challenge around the globe and it is expected to get worse over the coming decades because of ever-increasing world population.

Climate change exacerbates this problem by creating severe weather events, making it harder to predict and mitigate against plant pathogens.

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) faces a greater challenge due to both small-scale agriculture and limited economy to sustain yield losses due to pathogens.

Field pea is a highly important legume crop, a great source of protein for millions in SSA who cannot afford animal proteins.

The crop also plays a significant role as livestock feed, improves soil fertility in cereal-based cropping systems in the region and beyond.

This project aims to generate knowledge, which will enhance our abilities to select and develop resistant field pea cultivars against Ascochyta blight.

Using novel and cutting-edge technologies, this project will contribute to a deeper understanding of disease resistance mechanisms and genes involved, as well as promoting phenotypic-genotype association studies among the scientific community.

In this project, we will identify field pea germplasm with resistance to Ascochyta blight, which will enable the development of high yielding nutrient-rich field pea cultivars, thereby improving food/nutritional security in Ethiopia, East Africa.

Thus, the project addresses important societal issues of relevance to UN SDG’s mission, supporting need-driven research in agriculture.