Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture (CLIMA) researcher Ping Si hopes a glass spraying cabinet holds secrets that will unlock the mysteries of why some herbicides knock pulses out, why some only knock them around and why some fail to land a punch.

The GRDC-supported National Pulse Program, DAFWA's Lupin Improvement Program and the Western Australia Herbicide Resistance Initiative at the University of Western Australia, have funded Dr Si to assess how to improve herbicide tolerance in pulses.

"While chickpea and narrow-leafed lupin are priorities in the new project, field peas, lentils and faba beans will also be screened for herbicide tolerance," Dr Si said.

The new project follows a GRDC-supported research which induced and identified mutants highly tolerant to metribuzin in the anthracnose resistant Tanjil variety of lupins.