Phenotyping chickpeas and pigeonpeas for adaptation to drought
Abstract
Chickpeas and pigeonpeas are protein-rich grain legumes used for human consumption in many countries. Grain yield of these crops is low to moderate in the semi-arid tropics with large variation due to high GxE interaction. In the Indian subcontinent, chickpea is grown in the post-rainy winter season on receding soil moisture, and in other countries during the cool and dry post winter or spring seasons. Pigeonpeas are sown during the rainy season and flower and mature in the post-rainy season. The rainy months are hot and humid with diurnal temperature varying between 25 and 35°C (maximum) and 20 and 25°C (minimum) with an erratic rainfall. The available soil water during post-rainy season is about 200–250 mm which is the bare minimum to meet the normal evapotranspiration. Thus occurrence of drought is frequent and at varying degrees. To enhance productivity of these crops, cultivars tolerant to drought need to be developed. ICRISAT conserves a large number of accessions of chickpea (>20,000) and pigeonpea (>15,000). However only a small proportion (
Citation
Upadhyaya, H.D.; Kashiwagi, J.; Varshney, R.K.; Gaur, P.M.; Saxena, K.B.; Krishnamurthy, L.; Gowda, C.L.L.; Pundir, R.P.S.; Chaturvedi, S.K.; Basu, P.S.; Singh, I.P. Phenotyping Chickpeas and Pigeonpeas for Adaptation to Drought. Frontiers in Physiology (2012) 3: 179. [DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2012.00179]
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Phenotyping chickpeas and pigeonpeas for adaptation to drought