BREEDING CROPS TO SUPPORT THE PLANT-BASED PROTEIN MARKET

Goals:A) To developed pea varieties that are adapted to priority production regions in NC for the PBP market.a. Select varieties must fit well in the double-cropping system, with short production cycle, good disease resistance, high yield, high % of protein, good amino acid profile, and neutral flavor.b. Select double purpose pea varieties so that farmers can meet the cover crop objective, with added value from the grain.c. Develop high throughput phenotyping methods for PBP related attributes (flavor, amino acid profile) in order to screen large numbers of individuals.d. Utilize genomics-derived information to identify markers linked to economically important genes such as those controlling resistance, protein content, amino acid profile, flavor, plant type, etc.e. Incorporate advanced breeding tools into pea breeding to make it a modern and dynamic program, aiming at high genetic gain per cycle (rapid cycling in GH; genomic selection; digital phenotyping; mutation breeding; double haploid production).B) Test advanced selections and introductions for different species with potential to support the PBP market, among them: non-GM high protein soybean lines; mung bean, cowpeas, and fava bean varieties. For those that show promise as PBP ingredients, a small breeding program could be established to develop materials adapted to the State.C) Experiment with new process to develop PBP products that could fit specific market niches, based on specific selected genotypes.D) Train students to become plant breeders for a specific value chain and what it takes in terms of multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional work to make impact.