Ex Situ Conservation of Grain Legumes

Abstract

The major food legumes that originated in the Mediterranean and that are important in this region include chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), lentil (Lens culinaris L.), and faba bean (Viciafaba L.). Lentil is an ancient cool-season field legume that has been traditionally grown in the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, Ethiopia, North Africa, and to a lesser extent, in southern Europe. It has also been introduced to South and North America. It is usually grown in rotation with cereals and is valued for both its seed for human consumption and straw for animal production. Archeological data has shown that lentil has been cultivated as early as 8000 BC in the Middle East (Hansen and Renfrew 1978). In the dryer regions of the Middle East, North Africa and the Indian subcontinent lentil is one of the principal pulse crops cultivated and is a dietary mainstay of the populations of this region where it is an important source of protein. Faba bean (Viciafaba L.) is an old world legume with numerous references by ancient writers (Hawtin and Hebblethwaite 1983). The major producing countries for faba bean are China and Ethiopia. Faba bean is cultivated in Europe in the Mediterranean region and in northern Europe. Throughout North Africa and West Asia faba beans are an important component of the diet, especially of the poorer peoples and has been referred to as the “poor man’s meat”. Faba beans were introduced to South America with European colonization and are mostly grown at higher elevations where Phaseolus beans can not be grown. Faba bean is of a more recent introduction to North America where it is not of significance and to Australia, where the area has dramatically increased in the past ten years. Chickpea is a diploid, self-pollinated, leguminous crop that runs second in area and third in production among the pulses. It is cultivated primarily for its protein-rich seed, and the plant is an efficient symbiotic nitrogen-fixer, playing an important role in farming systems. Two types of chickpea are grown: desi, with angular and coloured sees, primarily grown in South Asia; and kabuli, with large, owl-shaped and beige-coloured seeds, grown in the Mediterranean region, the USA and Latin America.