seed and plant improvement institute

Vegetable Crops Research has a long history in SPII. Considering the important role of vegetables and pulse crops in food security and their high economic returns, research on these crops, namely potato and onion, was simultaneously started with the establishment of SPII in 1960, under the name of “Vegetable Crops Unit” in Horticultural Crops Research Department.

In 1979, this unit was developed into an independent department “Vegetable Crops Research Department” and also "Pulse Crop Research Department" was established in SPII. In 1997, it was decided to distinct potato and onion research activities from Vegetable Research department and incorporate within Irrigated Pulses Crops to form, Potato, Onion and Irrigated Pulses research department; and the Vegetable Crops Research Department was moved to the Agricultural Research Center in Varamin, Tehran province. Once again, two departments re-merged and named “Vegetable and Irrigated Pulse Crops Research Department” at SPII in 2008.

Currently, the Vegetables and Irrigated Pulses Research Department is conducting research on potato, onion, tomato, pepper, eggplant, beans (chitti, white, red, green bean, and cowpea), faba bean, mung bean, and quinoa.

The Latest Released Varieties
Objectives and Policies
Units and sub-sections of the department
Facilities and Laboratories

•Potato: Savalan, Khavarn, Javid, Anousha, Atousa, Rona and Takta.

•Onion: Morvarid.
•Red common bean: Akhtar, Darakhshan, Naz, Yaghout and Dadfar.

•White common bean: Pak, Shokoufa, Dorsa and Almas.
•Chitti bean: Sadri,Koosha, Ghafar and Ofogh.

•Broad bean: Barakat, Feiz, Shadan and Mahta.

•Green bean: Sepehr and Arian.
•Pach baghela: Sahel and Gil.
•Mung bean: Zarbakhsh and Sekhavat.

•Eggplant: Behrad, Azin, Bita and Drakhshan.47
•Lettuce: Waresh, Setareh and Tavoosi.
• Spinach: Varamin-88.
•Melon: Khatouni-93, and Dargazi-93.

Development of new vegetables and irrigated pulse cultivars using conventional and molecular breeding methods.
•Development, selection, and releasing salt and drought tolerance cultivars.
•Development, selection, and releasing disease resistant cultivars.

•Research on agronomic traits to increase the yield and quality of released cultivars.
•Study on the adaptability of Iranian and imported vegetable cultivars under different climatic conditions in Iran.
•Performing national breeding programs for potatoes and beans.

•Production of pre-basic and basic seeds of newly released vegetable crop cultivars.
•Production of pre-basic and basic seeds of newly released irrigated food legume crops.
•Collaboration, in the fields of germplasm exchange and joint research projects, with the following international research centers and universities to facilitate the achievement of research goals and also benefit from research findings of international research centers: 1.International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) Objectives and Startegies 48 for faba bean.
2.The World Vegetable Center (pervious Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center or AVRDC) for vegetable crops.
3.International Center for Tropical Agriculture or Centro International de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) for bean.
4.Potato Research Center (PRC) in Hungary for potato breeding.

•Potato unit.
•Onion and garlic unit.
•Irrigated food legume crops unit.
•Solanaceous vegetables (tomato, pepper, eggplant).
•Quinoa unit.
•Pathology unit.

• Biotechnology and Tissue Culture Laboratory

• Plant Pathology Laboratory
• Storage and Cold rooms for Potato and Onion
• Green/Glasshouses

Vegetables and irrigated pulse crops researchers and staff from head quarter and provincial research centers and field stations participated in annual meeting at Seed and Plant Improvement Institute in Karaj, Iran, in 2019.