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Alberta's growth to 500,000 acres of lentils is one of the big stories of the past decade. Rising market demand and many years of plant breeding dedication helped make it possible. Lentils are becoming a popular crop option in many regions of Alberta. Solid genetics, strong pricing and agronomy support have ensured these are a profitable choice for Alberta growers. PROJECT TITLE Developing red lentil cultivars for Alberta and analyzing the newest red lentil cultivars for the starch profile to attract new lentil markets PROJECT LEAD Manjula Bandara, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry TOTAL VALUE OF PROJECT $661,060 FUNDING PARTNER Alberta Innovates From just 8,000 acres in 1999, Alberta farmers grew half a million acres of red lentils in 2015. If market conditions are right, there's every reason to believe that acres of red lentils – long an agronomic stand-by in Saskatchewan – can continue to move forward here. For an inside view of how red lentils went from obscurity to rising prominence, the scientist to talk to is Manjula Bandara. The Brooks- based Pulse and Special Crop Research Scientist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry has been a central figure in red lentil crop improvement in Alberta since 1999. Bandara's lentil crop improvement project has often collaborated with the world-renowned and long-standing University of Saskatchewan lentil breeding program led by Bert Vandenberg. This relationship has been one of the drivers of the growth of lentils in Alberta. Another has been the availability of funding from producer and government sources. Alberta Pulse Growers has been a long-time supporter of Bandara's work, specifically between 2001 and 2017. VARIETY DEVELOPMENT UNDER ALBERTA CONDITIONS "Before 2001, Alberta Agriculture had been evaluating lentil cultivars that were F7s or F8s, as part of the co-op trials," said Bandara. "Being so advanced, those lines weren't really well-adapted to Alberta." His innovation was to obtain lines much earlier in the development cycle, such as F4s, and screen them for flowering, crop standability, crop height, disease resistance, seed colour and seed yield. This work was performed at Alberta Agriculture and Forestry sites at Brooks and Bow Island. After two or more years in co-op trials, superior lentil lines are submitted for the variety registration process with CFIA. Still, what Bandara sees as the biggest leap forward for red lentils in Alberta came in 2003. "When Clearfield lentils came out, that was very significant," he said. "Weed control is the number-one factor for lentil production, because lentils are poor competitors with weeds. With the introduction of Clearfield lentils, acreage got a real boost and, along with international demand, helped get us to where we are today." With lentil acres in Alberta roughly 50 times higher than when he started, Bandara is proud of the foundational work that he and many others have done. Looking forward, he sees two new areas for improvement. The first is to ensure that gains in weed control endure, as reliance on Group 2 herbicides risks the development of resistance in the longer term. The second issue is managing emerging lentil diseases, such as root rot and other foliar diseases. Collaborative Research Delivers New and Better Red Lentils GROW GENETICS 11 | Pulse Research Report

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