Plant breeders are moving closer to the ideal faba bean variety resistant to both ascochyta blight and chocolate spot.

Dr Jeff Paull of the Waite Campus at the University of Adelaide told growers at a faba bean symposium in Darlington Point, NSW, that selection of the varieties Ascot and Farah* meant that they were now showing more uniform resistance to ascochyta blight and that a new selection had moved close to the ideal of resistance to both diseases.

He described the selection Ic/As-7-3 as an early maturing variety producing small to medium sized, buff coloured grain that was moderately resistant to resistant to ascochyta blight and moderately susceptible to moderately resistant to chocolate spot .

Dr Paull said that a major resistance gene for ascochyta blight had been identified but that chocolate spot was proving a more difficult nut to crack.

While disease resistance remained a major focus of the breeding program, he identified uniform grain size, colour and ability to absorb water as important marketing attributes.

Other breeding opportunities lay in developing resistance to residual simazine, overcoming residual herbicide problems and the crop's ability to tolerate iron deficiency.

Indications at the symposium were that the area under faba beans in Australia will double this year as farmers look for a crop capable of returning high water use efficiency. Yields in excess of four tonnes per hectare under irrigation are now considered standard with some growers achieving as much as six tonnes per hectare.

* Plant Breeders Rights