Breeding Field Pea in Ethiopia

The prime objective of plant breeding is to increase productivity to meet the increasing food requirements of people. Estimation of genetic progress from a breeding program and periodic evaluation of advancement in the genetic gain of a crop through released varieties is required to understand changes and success produced by past breeding activities. Since its inception Ethiopian Agricultural Research, Crop Research Sector in which field pea was included as one component of food legume improvement program has been working much on development of new technologies contributing to sustainable development. As a result, more than 30 field pea (Pisum sativum L.) improved varieties have been developed in Ethiopia, from 1979 to 2010. This work presents the impact of breeding field pea on seed yield, associated traits and their related changes in Ethiopia due to past pea breeding activities. The work also provides information on the potential for improvement of the crop and points out future directions for improvement of the crop.