b'fertilizers. Cropping systems involving pulse crops can be a cheaper and more sustainable alternative to conventional practices.Not the Easiest Crop to GrowFarmers who choose to grow lentils have to evalu-ate multiple factors when choosing which varieties to plant, says Charlie Cahill, a farmer seedsman who works with lentil breeders, buyers, processors and academics. Because lentils shell out very easily and are a sensitive plant, they cant just be left out in the field like corn, Cahill says. Lentil breeding has helped farmers improve harvestability.There is a constant struggle amongst lentil farm-ers, processors and chefs when it comes to grow-ing a variety of crop that will pay and be desired by consumers. That dance happens daily, trying to figure out how to get the highest yielding product that meets the specific qualities needed by the end user, Cahill notes. In the areas where lentils are grown, farmersOne new tasks lentil breeders are working on is improving lentil geneticsin have other choices of crops to plant on those acres.particular by improving their nutritional quality. I grow nine to 10 different crops on my land.One of the big aspects of the dance betweeneases. Areas where those root diseases are showing farmers, processors and end users of lentils is thatup are growing.there are a large number of varieties to choose from.While lentils have been able to make growers Every country and culture has a lentil they likemore money per acre, Cahill worries that there will best, Cahill says. Red lentils are the most com- be long-term problems if they are not managed dif-monly grown and consumed lentils in the world,ferently.although green lentils seem to be preferred in the We need to examine what we could do on United States, although America is not a large lentilmultiple levelsbreeding, herbicides, chemistry, consuming country. fertility, etc., to manage those root diseases, heBecause there are a lot of lentils going differentsays. Lentils share the same diseases as field peas, places, processors have a challenging job to findso its not just one crop at risk Because lentils the varieties they need, despite dealing with the Bandillo and his team are utilizing new tech-current trade situation, which has greatly affectednologies to speed up the development of new lentilshell out very easily lentil exports. cultivarsa process that usually takes 10 years forand are a sensitive conventional breeding. Lentil Breeding ChallengesOur goal is to shorten that process to 7-8plant, they cant just There are some challenges with lentil breeding,years, Bandillo says. We leverage a combination according to Bandillo. Genetic diversity is the driverof new technologies for breeding. We evaluatebe left out in the of plant breeding. In lentils breeding pool, therespeed breeding that permits breeders to turnoverfield like corn. Lentil is limited diversity, meaning little opportunities togenerations and reduce the length of the breed-select from.ing cycle. We test genomic selection that allowsbreeding has helped With limited diversity, if a major, virulent diseasethe prediction of new breeding lines using onlyfarmers improve comes up, all of them could possibly be wiped outthe genetic information. We also explore the utility by the disease, Bandillo says. Farmers could pos- of drones for disease resistance screening, so weharvestability. sibly gain no yields, and therefore, they would haveknow which ones are best to use for selection. Charlie Cahillless to no profits at all that season. White mold, root rot and fusariums haveFood Consumer Trendbecome shadows over the lentil industry. The nutritional content of lentils is of great interestThats probably our biggest issue in theto consumers, who are more focused on health and future, Cahill says. The U.S. lentil industry iswellness than ever before, says Chef Michael Smith, quite young, only 50 years old or so in the Pacifichost of Chef Michaels Kitchen, Chef at Home and Northwest. Saskatchewans industry is starting toChef Abroad on Food Network Canada. see some of the consequences of growing lentilsIn my younger years as a chef, I didnt under-too often in the same fields, in the form of root dis- stand nutrition as it relates to food you cook, Smith 56/ SEEDWORLD.COMJUNE 2020'