Winter Peas???

[Jagfarms]

This question is not related to marketing and there is
not much action on the pulse crop forum so I thought
I would ask it here. I see there is research done with
winter peas in Alberta. Are they a specific variety or
are they just a common variety and they are seeding
them in the fall to see what happens.

[olson]

The winter pea are both yellow and green types(small seeded, around 150g/1000 kwt). A normal pea type was crossed with an Austrian winter type by breeders at the Washington State University/USDA program at Pullman, Washington. There are two semi-leafless, yellow varieties(Specter and Windham)that I am aware of(there are probably more)and both are currently registered in the US. The reason for the research project(lead by Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development)is to determine if these winter types can survive under Alberta's cold and harsh environment and to understand what factors affect suvivability. Our project team will be looking at air and soil temperatures(surface,at seeding depth), soil moisture, growth stage at freeze up, disease levels, nodulation among other factors such as seeding dates, seeding rates. Additionally, the research group will be looking at the functionality(uses)of the winter pea types.