Agronomic Performance of Chickpea Affected by Drought Stress at Different Growth Stages

Abstract

Susceptibility to drought stress has restrained chickpea productivity at a global level, and the development of drought-tolerant varieties is essential to maintain its productivity. Therefore, the present study was conducted to evaluate genetic divergence in selected genotypes of chickpea and their morpho-physiological responses under irrigated and stressed conditions to identify the traits that account for the better performance of these genotypes under stressed conditions, as well as genotypes with improved drought tolerance. The genotypes were evaluated for two years under irrigated and drought stressed conditions, and significant variation was found amongst the genotypes for different morpho-physiological and yield traits. The maximum reduction was observed for plant yield (33.23%) under stressed conditions. Principle component analysis (PCA)-based biplots and correlation studies established its strong positive correlation with relative water content (RWC), membrane stability index (MSI), chlorophyll index (CI), secondary branches (SB) and yield traits and negative correlations with drought susceptibility index (DSI), days to maturity (DM) and 100 seed weight (100 SW) under drought stress, suggesting their use in selecting drought-tolerant germplasm. Ten genotypes with high values of RWC, MSI, CI, SB, yield traits and lower DSI were identified as drought-tolerant and might serve as ideal donors in the forthcoming breeding of elite chickpea cultivars. The seed-filling stage began earlier in these genotypes, with significantly reduced days to maturity under stressed conditions. Our results indicate selection for earliness offers a promising strategy for the development of drought-tolerant chickpea cultivars.

Impression of foliar-applied folic acid on coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) to regulate aerial growth, biochemical activity, and essential oil profiling under drought stress

“…The vegetative stage manages the overall phenotypic expression of coriander and prepares for the upcoming reproductive phase. However, in the case of this study, we found that the most sensitive stage of growth with respect to drought stress regimes (MS75 AND SS50) was the seed filling stage (Sachdeva et al, 2022). The amount of reduction of plant and leaf fresh and dry biomass was greater and significant (p ≤ 0.05) during the seed filling stage rather than the bolting and vegetative stages (Khatun et al, 2021) as indicated in Figures 5, 6, while shoot fresh and dry biomass showed non-significant results.…”

Low water supply differentially affects the growth, yield and mineral profile of kabuli and desi chickpeas (Cicer arietinum)

“…Reduced chickpea yield under water stress largely results from pod abortion and impaired pod filling, which seem to occur as soon as water deficits start to develop, regardless of plant phenology (Leport et al, 2006; Randhawa et al, 2014). Root traits, such as root length, root biomass and RS ratio, are usually correlated with higher chickpea yield under water stress by facilitating water mining through and minimising transpiration (Kumar et al, 2012; Kashiwagi et al, 2015; Ramamoorthy et al, 2016; Ranjan et al, 2022; Sachdeva et al, 2022). However, this association does not always occur (Serraj et al, 2004; Kashiwagi et al, 2005; Zaman‐Allah et al, 2011a), likely due to differences in the experimental setup and plant genotype.…”

Phenological Variation in Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Varieties through Foliar Application of Cytokinin Analogs and Nutrients under Water Deficit Stress

“…Among the irrigation levels, D1 (Irrigation at 30 DAS and flower initiation) required the highest (81.57 DAS) number of days for pod formation followed by D2 (Drought stress at flowering up to physiological maturity) at 79.27 DAS. Sachdeva et al [12], indicated that water stress during the reproductive stage leads to a significant reduction in both plant yield and yield-related traits.…”

“…Phenology plays a vital role in the adaptation of crops to various environments, and its variation depends on factors such as genotype, soil moisture, sowing time, and also geographical location [12]. Plants can mitigate the impact of terminal drought by exhibiting early phenology [3].…”