Registration of 'purple bounty' and 'purple prosperity' hairy vetch

Authors: MOORE, VIRGINIA - North Carolina State University; Maul, Jude; WILSON, DAVE - Pennsylvania State University; CURRAN, WILLIAM - Pennsylvania State University; BRAINARD, DANIEL - Michigan State University; DEVINE, THOMAS - Retired ARS Employee; Mirsky, Steven

Submitted to: Journal of Plant Registrations
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/20/2020
Publication Date: 9/15/2020
Citation: Moore, V., Maul, J.E., Wilson, D., Curran, W., Brainard, D., Devine, T., Mirsky, S.B. 2020. Registration of 'purple bounty' and 'purple prosperity' hairy vetch. Journal of Plant Registrations. 14(3):340-346.

Interpretive Summary: Hairy vetch is a common cover crop grown for its cold tolerance, fast growth, large biomass production, and ability to fix nitrogen. However, hairy vetch and other cover crops have received little plant breeding investment, and have not been improved for many of the most important traits for cover cropping. There is particular interest in early-flowering hairy vetch cultivars because organic no-till production requires flowering to occur earlier in the growing season for successful mechanical termination of the cover crop. In collaboration with the Rodale Institute and the Agricultural Experiment Stations of Penn State University and Cornell University, USDA-ARS cover crop breeding program developed two new hairy vetch cultivars (‘Purple Bounty’ and ‘Purple Prosperity’) that are both early-flowering and have adequate winter survival for the mid-Atlantic. These cultivars will be particularly useful to farmers trying to maximize legume biomass in their production systems without delaying their cash crop planting date.

Technical Abstract: The hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth; Leguminaceae) cultivars ‘Purple Bounty’ (Reg. No. PI 648342) and ‘Purple Prosperity’ (Reg. No. PI 654047) were released in 2007 and 2008, respectively, by the US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) in collaboration with the Rodale Institute and the Agricultural Experiment Stations of Penn State University and the Cornell University. Hairy vetch is a commonly used annual legume cover crop grown for its cold tolerance, fast growth, large biomass production, and ability to fix nitrogen. However, this species has not been selected for the traits needed to optimize its use as a cover crop. Our breeding program focused on developing a cultivar that was both early-flowering and winter hardy, and therefore adapted to mechanical termination in organic no-till production in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic United States. ‘Purple Bounty’ (experimental designation K-12) and ‘Purple Prosperity’ experimental designation B-35) were developed between 1998 and 2005 using recurrent selection at nurseries in Beltsville, MD and Keedysville,MD. In 2005-2006, selections were evaluated against commercial checks for flowering time in Maryland and Pennsylvania, and in the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 seasons they were evaluated in ten locations (twelve total site-years) across the US for winter hardiness. ‘Purple Bounty’ and ‘Purple Prosperity’ both flowered earlier than the commercial material against which they were tested (significance depended on the date and site); ‘Purple Bounty’ was the earlier-flowering of the two varieties. ‘Purple Bounty’ and ‘Purple Prosperity’ also had equivalent or improved winter hardiness compared to ‘AU Early Cover’, an early-maturing variety developed in the southern US, at all test locations. ‘Purple Prosperity’ is no longer commercially available, but ‘Purple Bounty’ is currently licensed and distributed by Allied Seed (Nampa, ID). The highest sales by volume are in the Northeast, Mid-South, Ohio Valley, Midwest, and Pacific Northwest.