Domesticated species are impacted in unintended ways during domestication and breeding. Changes in the nature and intensity of selection impart genetic drift, reduce diversity, and increase the frequency of deleterious alleles. Such outcomes constrain our ability to expand the cultivation of crops into environments that differ from those under which domestication occurred. We address this need in chickpea, an important pulse legume, by harnessing the diversity of wild crop relatives. We document an extreme domestication-related genetic bottleneck and decipher the genetic history of wild populations. We provide evidence of ancestral adaptations for seed coat color crypsis, estimate the impact of environment on genetic structure and trait values, and demonstrate variation between wild and cultivated accessions for agronomic properties. A resource of genotyped, association mapping progeny functionally links the wild and cultivated gene pools and is an essential resource chickpea for improvement, while our methods inform collection of other wild crop progenitor species.

Lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus) is a major food crop in Ethiopian. It is affordable protein source and important in sustaining soil fertility through nitrogen fixation. However, its current national productivity of 1.46 t ha-1 is lower than its potential due to inadequate agronomic management practices, nutrient imbalance and lack of indigenous or commercial Rhizobium strains of lentil. Therefore, the field experiment was conducted at Ada'a district under rain-fed condition during 2016/17 main cropping season to assess the role of S and Rhizobium inoculant on nodulation, nutrient utilization and yield response of lentil. The experiment consisted of three levels of S (0, 20 and 40 kg ha-1) and Rhizobium inoculant (un-inoculated and inoculated) in a factorial combination using Alemaya lentil variety as a test crop. The experiment was conducted using randomized complete block design with three replications. The result showed the interaction of sulphur fertilization and Rhizobium inoculant were significant on days to flowering, number of nodules plant-1 , nodule dry weight plant-1 , number of seeds pod-1 , aboveground dry biomass, seed yield, seed S uptake, haulm S uptake, total S uptake, sulphur agronomic and recovery efficiency as well as sulphur harvest index. Application of 40 kg S ha-1 without Rhizobium inoculant led to produce the highest seed yield (2.27 t ha-1) and delayed days to flowering (46 days) of lentil whereas, the highest nodule dry weight plant-1 (1.1mg) and sulphur harvest index (17.68%) were obtained at the rate of 40 kg S ha-1 under Rhizobium inoculations. On the other hand the maximum number of nodule plant-1 (15.60), number of seed pod-1 (1.99), total aboveground dry biomass (8.22 t ha-1), Sulphur agronomic efficiency (32.11kg ha-1), sulphur recovery efficiency (66.00 kg ha-1) were obtained in response to sulphur application at 20 kg ha-1 under Rhizobium inoculations. Moreover, Rhizobium inoculation without S fertilization gave the highest seed (3.88kg ha-1), haulm (23.33kg ha-1) and total S uptake (24.89 kg ha-1). Rhizobium inoculation without S application had high net benefit, relatively low variable cost with an acceptable and maximum MRR for lentil production in Ada'a district. However, since the experiment was conducted only for one season and one site, repeating the trial at different sites as well as in the same trial site would be important in order to draw sound recommendation.