FAETON

The pea variety Faeton is a late-maturing wintering fodder variety of grain-cutting direction, characterized by high winter hardiness and disease resistance. It was bred at the P.P. Lukyanenko Krasnodar Institute of Agricultural Sciences by repeated individual selection from the hybrid combination Mutant Compact x Neptune. The plants are of medium height, with a stem height of 75 to 150 cm, medium density leaves providing good photosynthetic activity. Inflorescences consist of two-flowered racemes with white flowers, and pods are weakly curved, seeds are round, smooth, white-pink in color. The mass of 1000 seeds varies from 150 to 260 g depending on growing conditions, and crude protein content reaches 21.8-27.0%.

Faeton is distinguished by high resistance to systemic herbicides, as well as good resistance to downy mildew and bacterial diseases, with medium resistance to fusarium. The plant is resistant to lodging, which helps preserve the yield. The vegetative period is about 130 days, which allows growing the variety both with spring and winter sowing. Simultaneous seed maturation simplifies harvesting and increases the efficiency of agro-technical measures.

Potential grain yield reaches 4.5–5.0 tons per hectare, and green mass up to 80 tons per hectare. Protein content in grain is 37-39%, and oil is 20-22%, making the variety in demand both for the food and fodder industries. It is recommended to grow on fertile soils, especially chernozem, in steppe and forest-steppe zones. Optimal sowing density is 500-600 thousand plants per hectare, at a sowing depth of 4-5 cm.