Research Projects

**Terms to Grow your knowledge...**

The Legume Family

Leguminosae (or Fabaceae)- the large plant family typified by herbaceous plants, shrubs, trees, and vines having usually compound leaves, clusters of irregular, keeled flowers, and fruit in the form of a pod splitting along both sides, and including beans, peas, acacia, alfalfa, clover, indigo, lentil, mesquite, mimosa, and peanut.
Field Pea

Pisum sativum arvense - Variety of the common pea, grown for folage and silage. round, edible seed of a widely cultivated plant of the legume family. the green, somewhat inflated pod of this plant.
Lentil

Lens culinaris- a plant of the legume family, having flattened, biconvex seeds used as food.
Chickpea

Cicer arietinum- Also called garbanzo, a widely cultivated plant of the legume family, bearing pods containing pealike seeds.
Plant Breeding

The production of new varieties/forms by selection, cross, and hybridizing.
Crossing

The act or process of crossbreeding, hybridization; crossbreeding. using parents of different varieties, breeds, etc to create new breeds and hybrids.
Hybridization

Offspring of two different varieties of plant to produce a genetically hardier and more advanced variery, it is used extensively in agriculture, where new forms of hardy and disease-resistant plants are produced commercially.
Greenhouse

Building, usually of glass, in which the temperature is maintained within a desired range, used for cultivating tender plants or 'out of season' plants. Ability to control environment indoors and provide protection for plants from outside elements
Pulse Crops

The edible seeds of any of several leguminous plants, such as peas, beans, and lentils the plant producing any of these seeds.
Biofortification

The process of breeding staple crops to have higher levels of essential nutrients, either through selective breeding or genetic modification.