LAUSR

Pea weevil (Bruchus pisorum) is a damaging insect pest affecting pea production worldwide. The aim of this study was to identify sources of resistance to pea weevil in a Pisum spp. germplasm in multi-environment field tests. Seed infestation and larval development were assessed in each environment and subjected to a heritability-adjusted genotype and genotype x environment biplot analysis. Results showed that seed infestation and larval development are independent traits. Accessions P669 (P. sativum ssp. elatius) and P656 (P. fulvum) showed a stable reduction in seed infestation across environments. Meanwhile, accessions P314 (P. sativum ssp. elatius) and P1 (P. abyssinicum) showed a stable reduction in larval development. The most promising accession was P665 (P. sativum ssp. syriacum) which showed resistance at both pod and seed levels. This study demonstrates the importance of environmental conditions for pea weevil infestation. Moreover, by submitting data to a CCA, the influence of climatic parameters over seed infestation and larval development has been elucidated.