ABSTRACT
Grasspea (Lathyrus sativus L.), cultivated for more than 8000 years, is one of the oldest pulse crops [1]. It is grown in different parts of the world including, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Nepal, Pakistan and to a limited extent in Algeria, China and Spain for its seeds as a dietary constituent and the vegetative parts as fodder as well as green manure [2-5]. It is also grown in central and southern Europe and the M editerranean region as a forage crop [1]. Its hardy nature provides it with tolerance to adverse environmental conditions. Owing to low moisture requirement grass pea can be grown in the drought climate of Ethiopia. It is a poorman’s crop, needing very little investment for agricultural inputs, and being cheapest of all available food legumes can be afforded by people of low income [6-9].
