Fall 1996 Southern Pea Variety Trial Result Demonstration Brooks & Jim Wells Counties, Texas

Walter Storm cooperating with Texas Agricultural Extension Service including: J. Lopez, R. Mercado, L. Brandenberger & R. Wiedenfeld reported by: L. Brandenberger

Introduction:

Commercial producers in the South Texas area have been involved in the production of southern peas for the processing market in the past few years. This has consisted primarily of fall production of "eyed" types of peas with some spring production also being carried out. New advances in cultivar development have provided producers with the potential for increased yields and profits with southern peas due to cultivars with that require a shorter growing season, bush type growth habit and an erect pod set. Few replicated trials have been carried out to demonstrate how these new cultivars will perform under local conditions. With this in mind, a result demonstration was initiated at the Walter Storm farm north of Falfurrias in the fall of 1996.

Objective:

The objective of this trial was to compare different southern pea cultivars for differences in earliness, yield and maturity.

Methods and Materials:

Treatments in the demonstration included nine different southern pea cultivars, (Table 1), seven with bush type growth habit and two with vining growth habits. All cultivars were direct seeded September 12, 1996 in a randomized block design with four replications. Plots were 25 feet long and included one row per plot spaced on 30 inch centers. Stands were thinned to approximately two inches between plants in the row on October 2, 1996. The trial was grown in a dry-land field with no supplemental fertilizers. Weed control utilized Prowl herbicide with some cultivation.

Estimated percent of flowering was recorded on October 28, November 4, 6 and 11, 1996. Maturity of each cultivar was estimated on November 25 as the percentage of fruit pods that were dried and contained dry peas. Harvest data is reported as net yield and was determined by multiplying the harvest weights by the percent shelled weight. Percent increase imbibed weight was determined by weighing one pound of dry shelled peas after they were soaked over night in one liter of water and dividing the soaked weight by the dry weight and multiplying that times 100. Percent moisture of each cultivar was determined on November 25, 1996 with a Farmex portable moisture tester model 08025, (Farmex Inc. Aurora, Ohio).

All data were analyzed using Analysis of Variance and Duncan's multiple range test with P=0.05.

Results:

The earliness of flowering varied significantly between cultivars in the trial, (Table 2). Two distinct flowering groups emerged. The early group consisting of Early Scarlet, Excel, AR 87-435-69, AR 87-435-68 and Quick Pik were significantly earlier than the remaining four cultivars for the first three dates that flowering data were recorded, (Figure 1). On both November 4 and 6, Quick Pik was the earliest cultivar in the trial with AR 87-435-69 running a close second. Percent flowering for November 4 was 77.5 and 76.3 percent, respectively, for Pik Quick and AR87-435-69. On November 6, Quick Pik and AR87-435-69 had percent flowering of 90.0 and 87.5 percent, respectively. This compares to Pink Eye Purple Hull BVR which recorded 43.8 and 61.3 percent flowering, respectively, for November 4 and 6.

The maturity ratings ranged from a high of 57.5 percent of pods dried to a low of 40.0 percent of pods dried, (Table 3). This closely reflects what occurred in the last percent flowering ratings taken on November 11 which also had a small range. AR 87-435-68 had the highest percentage of dried pods compared to the lowest which was recorded by Coronet.

Data recorded for percent moisture on November 25 was not analyzed, but varied from a high of 11.1 to a low of 10.3 percent, (Table 3). Varieties that flowered later did have higher percent moisture on this date, even though there was not a wide range in this parameter.

Net yields were significantly different between several of the cultivars in the trial. They varied from a high of 1410 lbs./acre to a low of 993 lbs./acre for Pink Eye Purple Hull BVR and Texas Pinkeye, respectively, (Table 3). Both Pink Eye Purple Hull BVR and Coronet recorded significantly higher net yields than Early Scarlet, AR 87-435-69, Quick Pik and Texas Pinkeye.

The percent increase in weight due to imbibing ranged from a high of 245 percent for Excel to a low of 217 percent increase for Coronet. These increases in weight due to soaking also provide an indication of maturity, with those peas that imbibe the most being more mature. Coronet and Pink Eye Purple Hull BVR were two of the varieties with lower maturity ratings and higher moisture levels.

Discussion:

Southern pea cultivars that were included in the fall 1996 trial differed significantly in several of the parameters that were measured. There were significant differences between cultivars for earliness of flowering, maturity ratings, and net yields per acre. Generally, the cultivars with a bush type growth habit yielded lower than the vine types, but it should be noted that the trials were hand harvested which will result in higher yields than machine harvesting particularly for the vining types. This trial was the first trial for southern peas in the South Texas area for several years and should be considered as preliminary information that needs repeating in order to determine how these cultivars will perform in different locations and seasons.

Acknowledgments:

We would like to acknowledge Mr. Walter Storm for the providing an area for this result demonstration and for his time and efforts to make this project successful, Mr. Lloyd Grace of Allen Canning and Mr. Roy Woods of Dean Foods for their assistance and advice. We would also like to thank Mr. Carl Smith and Dr. T.E. Morelock for supplying seed for the trial.

The information given herein is for educational purposes only. Reference to commercial products or trade names is made with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by The Texas Agricultural Extension Service is implied.

Table 2. Flowering data for fall 1996 southern pea variety trial, Falfurrius, Texas area.
Cultivars	Average % flowering on 10/28/96z		Average % flowering on 11/04/96		Average % flowering on 11/06/96		Average % flowering on 11/11/96
Early Scarlet	58.8	a	71.3	a	76.3	bc	96.3	b
Excel	37.5	bc	71.3	a	83.8	ab	100.0	a
AR 87-435-69	36.3	bc	76.3	a	87.5	a	100.0	a
AR 87-435-68	50.0	ab	73.8	a	83.8	ab	98.8	ab
Arkansas Blackeye # 1	16.3	d	48.8	b	67.5	cd	100.0	a
Pink Eye Purple Hull BVR	13.8	d	43.8	b	61.3	d	98.8	ab
Coronet	10.0	d	51.3	b	68.8	cd	98.8	ab
Quick Pik	56.3	a	77.5	a	90.0	a	100.0	a
Texas Pinkeye	21.3	cd	52.5	b	67.5	cd	96.3	b
Average	33.3		62.9		76.3		98.8
zNumbers within a column followed by the same letter are not statistically different where P=0.05.

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