Dr. Surya Acharya and Dr. Brian Orshinsky, a forage cytogenecist, are working to reduce the sterility level using traditional and haploid breeding techniques. Weed scientist Dr. Jim Moyer is studying the crop's competitiveness with weeds and potential control measures, while other studies aim at maximizing forage and seed yield. Doubled haploids produced in our laboratories are expected to have reduced levels of sterility. Unable to buy methi, the young fenugreek leaves used in cooking Indian dishes, he and his wife planted fenugreek in their garden. Its profuse growth led researchers to test fenugreek as a crop for Western Canada.
Results show the annual legume has diverse economic potential.
It makes good silage, is a natural source of valuable steroids and contains a hormone that may induce milk letdown in dairy cattle. Multiple benefits In trials, one cut of fenugreek silage yielded as much dry matter as two cuts of alfalfa. Like alfalfa, fenugreek is a high-quality legume that fixes nitrogen in the soil. You can grow barley for silage one year and grow fenugreek the next. With alfalfa, the quality goes down as the plant matures, but with fenugreek the quality is constant, giving producers more flexibility for harvest.