By Don Comis
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) geneticist and breeder Thomas
Devine and collaborators have released "Purple Bounty," the first
winter-hardy, early-flowering vetch for the northern United States.
Until now, hairy vetch - a cover crop and weed-suppressing mulch
favored particularly by organic farmers - had limited use north of Maryland
because it copes poorly with northern winters. But Purple Bounty has
survived winters as far north as upstate New York.

Devine, with the ARS Sustainable Agricultural Systems Laboratory in
Beltsville, Md., spent nine years breeding this variety. He used traditional
breeding methods so that the variety would be acceptable to organic farmers.
He started with several hairy vetch types from Auburn University in Auburn,
Ala., and from the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System, then maintained in
Georgia. There he found early-flowering types.

From these, Devine selected for improved winter hardiness while
maintaining early flowering. He harvested seed from plants that survived
winters at Beltsville and at the University of Maryland farm at Keedysville
in northern Maryland. Purple Bounty emerged from nine cycles of selection,
with the right blend of winterhardiness and early flowering.

It flowers two weeks earlier than a commonly used variety. This allows
farmers to plant their main crop earlier in spring and use corn and tomato
varieties that require a longer growing season.

Limited quantities of seed should be available for planting in 2008,
with commercial quantities available in 2009.

Devine's collaborators on the release of Purple Bounty included the
Rodale Institute near Kutztown, Penn.; the Cornell University Agricultural
Experiment Station at Ithaca, N.Y.; and the Pennsylvania Agricultural
Experiment Station at University Park.

[www.ars.usda.gov]