Garbanzos, black-eyed peas and more beans: Productive and resilient

Researchers across California are developing new varieties of dry beans and testing them in a hunt for larger seed size, higher yield, tolerance to drought and heat, and resistance to disease and pests.

Scientists discussed their progress during the recent University of California Dry Bean Field Day, held at test fields on campus.

The aim of the work is to benefit growers and handlers, said Michelle Leinfelder-Miles, of University of California Agricultural and Natural Resources. Varieties demonstrated during the field day included garbanzos, black-eyed peas, common beans and tepary beans, a legume native to the hot, dry American Southwest. (Read about progress on lima beans here.)

Researchers discussed what they’re doing to develop resources for breeding, and they showed how they’re using technology such as drones and ground-based robots to learn more about what plants need to thrive.

Farmers interested in field-testing new varieties are welcomed. Anyone interested can contact Leinfelder-Miles or their local UC Cooperative Extension office.

In 2024, American farmers produced nearly 1.8 million tons of dry beans on more than 1.5 million acres, valued at about $1 billion, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. Funding for the research discussed during the field day comes from a variety of sources, including the California Dry Bean Advisory Board.

Garbanzos: Higher yield, bigger seeds

Researchers have been making carefully selected crosses among garbanzos, also called chickpeas, to develop varieties that yield more and produce bigger seeds, said Antonia Palkovic, a specialist with the department. Advanced breeding lines are still called by their numbers – such as the high-performing 110 – and a few of them seem to be in a sweet spot for both yield in pounds-per-acre and the weight of 100 seeds, which is a fast way to approximate seed size.

Scientists also are drawing on previous research to pull in traits from garbanzos that are  strong for drought tolerance and disease resistance. Scientists also want “plants that will emerge uniformly early in the season and grow vigorously to compete against weeds,” said Christine Diepenbrock, an associate professor in the department who now leads the dry bean breeding program.. In addition, they are planting trial plots in various areas in the Central Valley in collaboration with UC ANR.

A type of garbanzo called kabuli is of special interest, Diepenbrock said. Kabuli has large, thin-skinned, tan-white seeds with a mild, nutty flavor. It’s commonly used in Middle Eastern and Indian cuisines.

In addition, Diepenbrock and team are continuing the breeding program’s work on drought tolerance in coordination with Varma Penmetsa, an associate professional researcher in the department who also has been involved in cross-pollinating garbanzos.

Regarding disease resistance, Diepenbrock added, “the dry climate in California does help with there being less disease pressure.”

Contact the researchers: Antonia Palkovic at alpalkovic@ucdavis.edu and Christine Diepenbrock at chdiepenbrock@ucdavis.edu. Their research in this area is funded by the California Dry Bean Advisory Board.

Black-eyed peas: Speeding up selection

UC Davis also is collaborating on research into black-eyed peas, also called cowpeas and blackeyes. The blackeye breeding program is led by Bao-Lam Huynh, an assistant professor in the Department of Nematology at UC Riverside, who described his team’s advances during the event.

Huynh collaborates with the UC Davis team on research that informs breeding. That includes the GEMINI project to develop an advanced breeding toolkit, which Diepenbrock co-leads. (Scientists also are using GEMINI to work on common and tepary beans.) Other collaborators include Sassoum Lo and colleagues at UC Davis who are working to increase blackeye seed size. 

By identifying regions of the legume’s genome that control size, scientists can help breeders speed up the selection process. Lo and team had identified two regions during her doctoral research at UC Riverside. Nine improved lines were developed based on combinations of those regions, Lo reported at the event.  Lo is now an assistant project scientist in Diepenbrock’s lab. 

Coming up: Scientists are studying the nutritional quality of black-eyed peas produced by these lines and hundreds more, plus measuring how well they perform in the field, Lo said.

Related links

• Hand-outs giving details on this and more research presented during the 2025 UC Dry Bean Field Day, held in August at UC Davis, can be found here.
• Research on lima beans also was presented; read more here.
• Read more about the GEMINI project and efforts at UC Davis to use artificial intelligence to advance plant breeding here.