Plant breeders are constantly working on improving crop varieties for farmers.

Pulse Breeder Dr. Tom Warkentin is with the University of Saskatchewan's Crop Development Centre and has been working on some new yellow and green pea varieties.

He says green pea varieties like CDC Striker and CDC Raezer are popular with producers but a new variety shows promise.

“The yield of our newest one CDC Forest is quite a bit more, like 20% more than Striker or Raezer, so there’s a real benefit to trying that one.”

He notes new yellow pea varieties like CDC Inca also show a lot of potential while other varieties like CDC Spectrum and Lawatchko have extra yield, protein, and a stronger seed coat and should be available in 2020.

Warkentin says CDC Meadow is still one of the more popular yellow pea varieties but notes CDC Inca shows a lot of potential.

“It’s got at least a 10% yield advantage over CDC Meadow and so I think that’s a sufficient reason to try it. The advantage it has over CDC Amarillo, is that the yield advantage is only 1 or 2%, but it has a stronger seed coat. That’s going to make it nicer for handling and should result in better grades.”

He notes CDC Inca is well-suited to most pea growing regions of Saskatchewan, adding that in 2019 they’ll be plenty of certified seed available.