Beans Continued from Page 15
87%more thanAnasazi, a redbakingbean. Zuni Gold is a drought-tolerant, rich and creamy Pueblo Southwest variety like the newUC Southwest Gold—which now improves yields by 47%. UC Four Corners Red is also l ike Anasazi, but the yield increase from the cross is 22%. UC Sunrise is similar to Anasazi and Zuni Gold, and offers a 56% yield increase. Tiger’s Eye is a rich bean from Chile and Argentina. Now the new UC Tiger’s Eye improves yields by 55%. Rio Zape is a pot pinto beanwith a hint of chocolate and coffee for soups, dips and casseroles. The newUCRio Zape in- creases yields by 16%. Good Mother Stallard is a maroon and white bean that adds nutty flavor to soups. UC’s Good Daughter Stallard in- creases yields by 15%. Parker handed out small sample seed packets to interested growers at the dry bean field day. More information is available through the UCDavis organic breeding program, which provides California growers with seeds for tomato, bean, pepper and other crop varieties that are specially bred for organic farming. ( Bo b J o hn s o n i s a r e p o r t e r i n Sacramento. He may be contacted at bjohn11135@gmail.com.)
saidChristineDiepenbrock, UCDavis as- sistant professor of plant sciences. “We can put them through the digester and see how the seed coat translates into the nutrition available to the consumer.” Diepenbrock’s teamof researchers can simulate what happens to beans as they are cooked, chewed and digested, and then measure important nutritional val- ues. The goal is to learn if bean varieties that already perform well in producing good yields under a variety of climate and pest pressures canbe improved further to provide more nutritional value. “We’re interested in the nutritional quality of high-performing cultivars,” Diepenbrock said. Researchers are also growing im- proved heirloom bean varieties UC Southwest Red and UC Southwest Gold in Davis, San Juan Bautista and Pescadero to learn how growing under different weather conditions affects the nutritional value of the crops. There are long-term efforts at UC Riverside, Parlier and numerous loca- tions in the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys tobreedblack-eyedpeaswithbet- ter resistance to aphids, lygus bugs, root- knot nematodes and fusariumwilt. Because black-eyes—as a legume—fix nitrogen from the atmosphere and put it into the soil, they are sometimes grown in
Travis Parker, a University of California, Davis, postgraduate researcher, says plant breeders are increasing crop yields with new bean varieties released with mosaic virus resistance.
the Central Valley as part of a rotation to decrease the amount of fertilizer needed for the cotton, sorghumor corn crops. In their search for pest and disease re- sistance, UC Riverside researchers can use a collection of around 6,000 black- eyed accessions sourced from western and southeastern Africa. These plants are screened for resis- tance in the greenhouse. Promising candidates are then tes ted in the field at the Agricultural Experiment Station in Riverside and the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Parlier. The improved heirloom varieties
Parker works with have already been tested to see how they perform in trials on organic farms at numerous locations. The effort to resurrect the heirlooms was originally sponsored by Lundberg Family Farms in Richvale, which was in- terested in adding variety andnutritional value to themix in its line of chips, crack- ers and rice cakes. Seven heirloom varieties, previous- ly released after they had been bred for resistance to bean common mosaic vi- rus, have since also been improved by crossing themwith UC bean varieties to increase yields by 15% to 87%. ThesimilarnewUCSouthwestRedyields
The Produce Safety Rule is Here; ARE YOU READY?
Farm Employers Labor Service (FELS), an a liated company of the California Farm Bureau (CAFB), has partnered with the Safe Food Alliance through a California Department of Food and Agriculture grant contract, as their designated training provider for Central and Southern California, to conduct the required Produce Safety training for growers. Presented in a free two-day remote delivery webinar format! What sets Safe Food Alliance, FELS, and Farm Bureau apart is their total of over 100 years of experience and our dedication to providing technical guidance and leadership to the California agriculture community. Most farms are required to have at least one designated supervisor who has been trained in accordance with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety rule. Upon completion of the course, attendees will receive an o cial certi cate from the Association of Food & Drug O cials.
FARM BUREAU WELCOMES DUNGAREES as our newest benefit partner! Dungarees carries a large selection of premium men’s and women’s work wear brands such as Carhartt ® , CAT ® and Wolverine ® . They also carry YETI ® brand merchandise.
California Farm Bureau members receive: • 10% discount on orders under $200 • 15% discount on orders over $200 • 20% discount on orders over $500 • Free shipping on all orders over $55
Please call your local county Farm Bureau or 1-800-698-3276 for your discount code.
The Food Safety Training Partnership is offering these training courses throughout California. You can find more information and register at foodsafetytrainingpartnership.com, or call 916-561-5672. Supported by California Department of Food and Agriculture
It’s another great benefit of your Farm Bureau membership.
September 15, 2021 Ag Alert 17
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