Cultivation

Lentils are grown in regions with a warm-moderate or subtropical climate in dry areas. The main producing countries are, among others, Canada, India, Turkey, the USA, Australia, Nepal and China. In 2005, 4 million tons of lentils were produced on around 4 million hectares.

Utilisation

Lentils are more digestible than peas or beans. Because of their high protein content (25–30% of their dry weight) they are an important foodstuff especially in developing countries. They contain a large amount of starch, dietary fibres, vitamins (B1, B2, folic acid), calcium, iron and phosphorus.

The seeds are mostly prepared as

• Soup, salad, vegetable, tinned food

Gene technology: aims of research and development

Agronomic traits

Weed control

• Herbicide tolerance against herbicides with the active ingredient gluphosinate

Resistance to pests

• Insect resistance through the formation of Bt-toxins

Adaptation to climate and location factors

• Drought, salt and cold resistance

Quality traits

Enrichment with health-promoting ingredients such as:

• beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A, and iron

Field trials with GM lentils

Utilisation of GM lentils

In Canada, a new strain of lentils with resistance against herbicides with the active ingredient Imidazolinone has been approved. This characteristic was produced through chemically induced mutation.

In Canada, such new strains of plants require approval, independent of the method used for their production. However, in the USA and the EU only genetically modified plants have to submit to the approval procedure, and not plants that are created using other methods such as mutagenesis.