Open house on legume breeding at McGill University

Now in its 6th year of operation, McGill's bean breeding program aims to develop varieties that meet the needs of growers, buyers and consumers. Five varieties of Coco Rose, White Kidney, Black and Light Red Kidney are now approved for registration with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Join Valerio Hoyos-Villegas, Phd, and his team from the Pulse Breeding and Genetics Research Laboratory for an overview of research and development efforts in Quebec, and participate in an interactive variety observation and comparison activity.

Program:

• 8:30 a.m.: Welcome by Valerio Hoyos-Villegas, Janice Pierson, Macdonald Farm manager, Hugo Martorell, Sème l'avenir coordinator, and Olivier Flamand-Lapointe, Équiterre Project Manager.

• 9:00 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.: Improvement program update by Valerio Hoyos-Villegas, PhD, and Q&A session.

• 9:45 to 10:30 a.m.: Presentation and discussion on dry bean growing in New England with Heather Darby, soil and agronomy specialist at the University of Vermont Extension.

• 10:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.: Interactive observation of dry bean variety trials.

• 11:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.: Networking on industry development, lunch and scientific posters.

For more information, contact Hugo Martorell: hmartorell@weseedchange.org.

This event is part of the field days devoted to dry bean cultivation: research and development, agronomy and local supply.

• Wednesday, August 14 : Open house on legume breeding at McGill University
• Tuesday August 20: Meeting the challenges of organic dry beans

Growing dry beans is increasingly recognized as a winning strategy for farmers and consumers alike. It allows farmers to diversify their crop rotations, improve soil health and generate attractive income. Dry beans also represent a nutritional and affordable alternative plant protein.

For several years, buyers, public institutions, producers, agronomists, scientists and stakeholders have been mobilizing to meet the genetic, agronomic and marketing challenges.

Since 2020, the community has been meeting at field days to exchange knowledge and find collective solutions. To view reports on workshops held in previous years, click here.