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Chickpea to Get Nutrition Boost from Hardy and Weedy Wild Relatives

Chickpea to Get Nutrition Boost from Hardy and Weedy Wild Relatives

A study conducted by researchers from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Hyderabad, India has looked into the possibility of boosting the nutrient content of the popular legume chickpea by crossing it with its hardy and weedy wild relatives.

The researchers from ICRISAT and the Crop Trust's Crop Wild Relatives Project (CWR Project) studied the seed protein and mineral concentrations in wild chickpeas that belong to the genus Cicer. The ICRISAT team examined eight wild Cicer species from seven countries and compared their nutrient content to that of cultivated chickpea. They found enormous genetic variability among wild relatives and identified several plants that could be useful in chickpea breeding programs.

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How American Farmers Harvest 1.15 Billion Pounds of Sunflowers

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Across the open plains of North Dakota and South Dakota, sunflower fields turn the American landscape into a sea of gold. In this farming documentary, we go inside modern sunflower farming to see how farmers plant, grow, harvest, clean, dry, process, and transform sunflower seeds into valuable products used every day.

In 2024, American farmers harvested about 1.15 billion pounds of sunflowers. This video follows the full journey from warm spring planting to combine harvesting, seed cleaning, storage, oil extraction, refining, roasting, packaging, and animal feed production.

You will see how sunflower seeds are processed into cooking oil, roasted snacks, bakery ingredients, birdseed, livestock feed, and useful byproducts. From golden fields to modern processing plants, this is the story of how a beautiful flower becomes one of America’s important oilseed crops.

Watch until the end to discover how sunflower farming connects farmers, machines, factories, food production, and sustainable agriculture.