Strong demand for organic, plant-based, gluten-free, and non-allergenic proteins opens opportunities for diversified organic cropping systems. A rotation of cool-season pulses followed by sorghum fits into the Southeast growing season, builds biodiversity and nitrogen efficiency while reducing pest nematodes, and provides nutrient dense staple foods for people and locally sourced feed for organic livestock. This plant breeding project sought to identify and develop sorghum and winter pea cultivars that resist pests and diseases, yield well under organic management, and optimize protein (quantity and quality), prebiotic carbohydrate (for gut health), and micronutrient levels while reducing phytate (antinutrient) and fumonisin (mycotoxin) levels.

Researchers developed advanced, NOP-compliant, cost-efficient genomic, metabolomic, and phenotyping methods to identify desired genetic traits and combined them through strategic crosses and selection. These methods expedited progress toward new sorghum hybrids with high organic yield; resistance to anthracnose, fumonisin-forming grain mold, sugarcane aphid, and grain losses to birds and deer (long awns); and improved food quality and safety including lines that retard the growth of the foodborne pathogen Clostridium perfringens. Winter pea shows genetic diversity and selection potential for improving yield under organic management in the Southeast, phosphorus uptake efficiency, protein content and quality, and prebiotics (resistant starch, oligosaccharides) that support both crop resilience and human health.