Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is a dry season food legume largely grown on residual soil moisture after the rainy season. The crop often experiences moisture stress towards end of the crop season (terminal drought). The crop may also face heat stress at the reproductive stage if sowing is delayed. The breeding approaches for improving adaptation to these stresses include the development of varieties with early maturity and enhanced abiotic stress tolerance. Several varieties with improved drought tolerance have been developed by selecting for grain yield under moisture stress conditions. Similarly, selection for pod set in the crop subjected to heat stress during reproductive stage has helped in the development of heat-tolerant varieties.A genomic region, called QTL-hotspot, controlling several drought tolerance-related traits has been introgressed into several popular cultivars using marker-assisted backcrossing (MABC), and introgression lines giving significantly higher yield than the popular cultivars have been identified. Multiparent advanced generation intercross (MAGIC) approach has been found promising in enhancing genetic recombination and developing lines with enhanced tolerance to terminal drought and heat stresses. K E Y W O R D SCicer arietinum, climate change, early maturity, high temperature, moisture stress, molecular breeding

Th is study was conducted to determine the interaction between chickpea genotypes with the environment (GxE) on the yield stability and adaptability of desi type chickpea genotypes (Cicer arietinum L.). Seventeen chickpea genotypes were evaluated for two cropping years (2012/2013 -2013/2014) at four locations i.e., eight environments (locations x years combination). Chickpea grain yield was significantly (p<0.01) affected by genotypes, the environments and GxE interaction, indicating that the varieties and the test environments were diverse. GxE was further partitioned by principal component axes. The first two principal components cumulatively explained 53.1% of the total variation, of which 32.7% and 20.4% were contributed by IPCA1 and IPCA2, respectively. This implies that the interaction of 17 chickpea genotypes with eight environments was predicted by the first two principal components. AMMI1 biplot analysis showed five adaptive categories of genotypes based on similarities in their performance across environments. The AMMI2 biplot generated using genotypes and environmental scores for the first two IPCAs revealed positioning of the five genotype groups (GC) into four sectors of the biplot. Among them, two genotypes in GC 5 (G5 and G11) exhibited high yields across environments, low IPCA1 scores, low AMMI stability value (ASV) and yield stability index (YSI). G5 was released as a new variety, 'Dimtu' and registered in the Official Varieties Catalogue of Ethiopia, 2016.

SUMMARY The phenotypic analysis of root system growth is important to inform efforts to enhance plant resource acquisition from soils; however, root phenotyping remains challenging because of the opacity of soil, requiring systems that facilitate root system visibility and image acquisition. Previously reported systems require costly or bespoke materials not available in most countries, where breeders need tools to select varieties best adapted to local soils and field conditions. Here, we report an affordable soil‐based growth (rhizobox) and imaging system to phenotype root development in glasshouses or shelters. All components of the system are made from locally available commodity components, facilitating the adoption of this affordable technology in low‐income countries. The rhizobox is large enough (approximately 6000 cm2 of visible soil) to avoid restricting vertical root system growth for most if not all of the life cycle, yet light enough (approximately 21 kg when filled with soil) for routine handling. Support structures and an imaging station, with five cameras covering the whole soil surface, complement the rhizoboxes. Images are acquired via the Phenotiki sensor interface, collected, stitched and analysed. Root system architecture (RSA) parameters are quantified without intervention. The RSAs of a dicot species (Cicer arietinum, chickpea) and a monocot species (Hordeum vulgare, barley), exhibiting contrasting root systems, were analysed. Insights into root system dynamics during vegetative and reproductive stages of the chickpea life cycle were obtained. This affordable system is relevant for efforts in Ethiopia and other low‐ and middle‐income countries to enhance crop yields and climate resilience sustainably.

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is the third important food legume both in area and production after common beans and faba beans in Ethiopia. However, the productivity of the crop was very low compared to the potential as a result of non-use of improved varieties and technologies generated by the research system. To enhance the use of the improved and associated research technologies a National Chickpea Stakeholders Innovation Platform was established in 2013 with the objective of bringing together various stakeholders acting on the value chain in order to identify major challenges and find solutions that would be implemented through synergetic efforts. The platform identified seed shortage as a major bottleneck in the sector. This issue has been addressed through establishing farmers’ seed producer associations with the help of R&D partners and currently they are the major suppliers nationwide. Side by side, the platform strengthened the extension effort and triggered dissemination of improved technologies to a large number of farmers. As a result, productivity of the crop by model farmers increased by fourfold and the national productivity has been doubled to 2 ton ha−1 in the last decade. The platform also worked on improving access to market and recently chickpea joined the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange market. Cognizant of the huge development potential of the crop, the platform is striving to further strengthen the intervention and reap opportunities.

The analysis of root system growth, root phenotyping, is important to inform efforts to enhance plant resource acquisition from soils. However, root phenotyping remains challenging due to soil opacity and requires systems that optimize root visibility and image acquisition. Previously reported systems require costly and bespoke materials not available in most countries, where breeders need tools to select varieties best adapted to local soils and field conditions. Here, we present an affordable soil-based growth container (rhizobox) and imaging system to phenotype root development in greenhouses or shelters. All components of the system are made from commodity components, locally available worldwide to facilitate the adoption of this affordable technology in low-income countries. The rhizobox is large enough (~6000 cm2 visible soil) to not restrict vertical root system growth for at least seven weeks after sowing, yet light enough (~21 kg) to be routinely moved manually. Support structures and an imaging station, with five cameras covering the whole soil surface, complement the rhizoboxes. Images are acquired via the Phenotiki sensor interface, collected, stitched and analysed. Root system architecture (RSA) parameters are quantified without intervention. RSA of a dicot (chickpea, Cicer arietinum L.) and a monocot (barley, Hordeum vulgare L.) species, which exhibit contrasting root systems, were analysed. The affordable system is relevant for efforts in Ethiopia and elsewhere to enhance yields and climate resilience of chickpea and other crops for improved food security.Significance StatementAn affordable system to characterize root system architecture of soil-grown plants was developed. Using commodity components, this will enable local efforts world-wide to breed for enhanced root systems.