Production of High Quality Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.)

Fenugreek is an annual legume crop with medicinal§properties and potential to be a high quality forage§crop. The first forage cultivar of fenugreek Tristar , developed for western Canada requires ~120§days for producing high quality seed in this region§where only ~100 frost-free days are available§annually. Therefore the primary goal of this study§was to determine an appropriate course of action to§produce mature seed in 100 days. A series of§genetics and agronomic studies conducted over two§years suggested that mutation breeding using Tristar§as the base population can reduce maturity duration§of this crop. A strong G X E interaction for seed§yield was observed when world accessions were tested§over multiple locations in western Canada. Swathing§of plants a few days before combining and application§of phosphate fertilizer increased seed yield while§application of foliar spray of some chemicals§produced high quality fenugreek seed. Some short§duration, high yielding and determinate lines were§also identified in this study, improving the§potential for expanded use of fenugreek in western§Canada. This work will be valuable for agronomists,§plant breeders and geneticists.