Autofertility in a pure line faba bean (Vicia faba L.) germplasm collection

Summary A pure line faba bean germplasm collection (BPL) was derived by a process of cyclic single plant progenies starting in 1979 through 1985. In 1985/86, 840 of these pure line accessions from 677 original populations from 41 countries were evaluated for autofertility by comparing the mean of five plants where all flowers were tripped vs. five plants with no tripped flowers for number of seeds produced (seed index). In a replicated trial grown at the same time, seed yield, 100 seed weight, number of pods per plant, seeds per pod, and number of flowers per inflorescence were also evaluated. A high number of BPL accessions failed to set seeds in the screen houses without tripping, the mean seed index measure of autofertility was 0.51 with a C.V. of 74.2%. There were marked differences among countries of origin for autofertility, with Egypt having the highest (SI = 0.94) and the USSR the lowest (SI = 0.26) autofertility, however, most countries expressed a large range, suggesting that breeders should first look in their own material for this trait rather than searching in exotic germplasm. In general, there was a higher level of autofertility in Middle Eastern countries that may be due to natural selection for non-dependency on pollinators for high yield. Contrary to the findings of others, large seeded accessions had a high autofertility (SI = 0.704) compared to small seeded accessions (SI = 0.384), however, both had similar ranges. In general, there was no significant correlations among autofertility and yield and its components. The variability found in this large pure line collection for autofertility is of potential use for developing cultivars not dependent on insect populations for high yield and for developing self-pollinated faba bean.