A huge thanks to the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability for the accelerator grant that made this possible, and to the local community members who shared their knowledge, some of whom are co-authors and co-producers of this work. @stanforddoerr.bsky.social

We hope these findings can empower the farmers to revive and grow resilient traditional crops and diversify their production systems across mountain landscapes.

Our multipronged research underscores the importance of integrating traditional agricultural knowledge with ecological science to sustain agrobiodiversity, enhance climate resilience, and promote sustainable food systems.

Third, we find higher protein and micronutrient content such as iron, magnesium, and calcium in black peas compared to green peas.

Second, we provide the first whole-genome sequencing of black pea. Using spectral, hierarchical, and k-means clustering, we find black peas form distinct genetic clusters (from wild and domesticated subspecies) highlighting a complex cultural and environmental selection over thousands of years.

We examined black peas (an understudied, lesser-known crop) and barley from an ecological, genetic, nutritional and cultural lens. Our first finding is what local farmers knew all along: black peas require much less water to grow & outperform the introduced green pea in survival/reproductive traits.