Lodging in Lentil and its Relationship with other Characters

Lentil (Lens culinaris Med.) is normally harvested by hand in west Asia and north Africa, but research is needed on mechanizing its harvest to reduce input costs. Yield losses from a mechanized harvest increase with increased lodging. The genetic, environmental, and genotype × environmental variation in lodging was studied in 242 lines grown at three locations contrasting in rainfall in northern Syria and Lebanon. There was no lodging at the dry site where only 1.5 t ha−1 biomass was harvested. The lodging was considerable at the two wetter sites, where biological yields exceeded 3 t ha−1. The broad-sense heritability of lodging score across sites was 0.41 ± 0.05; clearly, some response to selection for standing ability based on plot values may be expected. In a separate experiment of 22 lines in one location hand-harvested biological, seed and straw yields were obtained and detailed morphological measurements were made to relate to lodging scores. Path coefficient analysis revealed the importance of stem thickness as a direct effect on lodging. Consequently, stem diameter may be useful as a criterion in single-plant selection for reduced lodging. As there was a low direct effect of hand-harvested seed and straw yield on lodging, selection for resistance to lodging will not have a major correlated effect on the genetic potential for seed and straw yield.