Britain’s pulse sector has been handed a significant lift as the PGRO unveils 11 new pea and bean varieties in its 2026 Descriptive List, despite a season marked by severe drought.
The Processors and Growers Research Organisation has released its updated list featuring seven combining peas, two winter beans and two spring beans.
Principal Technical Officer Dr Chris Judge said that although drought caused some trial sites to fail, the breadth of locations meant new and existing material “performed well”, providing enough reliable data for assessment.
He explained that PGRO evaluates varieties using “five years of trials” to compare yield, maturity and disease resistance, noting that control yields across peas and both bean types “were all very similar to the previous year, despite the impact of the weather”. The Descriptive List, he added, equips growers to identify options best suited to their own cropping systems.
Smooth performance in the trials is reflected in the peas section, where two new yellow varieties, KWS Telegram and Cushla, stand out for their yields.
In green peas, KWS Arkam leads the category, joined by Bullet and LG Mamba, all with solid disease resistance. Marrowfat growers gain Yoshi and Nyx, the former joining Midori as a joint top-yielder.
Winter beans show similarly useful developments. Patagonia becomes the earliest-maturing bean on the entire list, while Hepworth offers the strongest rust resistance. Many winter bean plots in 2025 grew shorter and with fewer branches due to drought stress, making performance data especially valuable this year.
The spring bean additions focus on low-vicine, low-convicine (LVC) material, with Callas and Maderas both making the list. Callas combines good yield with early maturity and high protein content, while Maderas brings strong mildew resistance and steady yield.
Existing high performers Notilus and LG Eagle remain at the top, though seed availability may still be restricted as production ramps up. LG Viper continues to deliver the best disease resistance profile.
Growers can explore the full Descriptive List for Pulses and Vining Peas in the latest issue of The Pulse and The Vegetable Magazine, while the findings are discussed in the new edition of PGRO’s Inside the Pod podcast.
With drought pressure expected to influence cropping decisions again in 2026, the expanded list offers growers a broader and more resilient set of varieties to choose from.
