Genotype by environment studies demonstrate the critical role of phenology in adaptation of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) to high and low yielding environments of India

Abstract

In order to investigate specific and general adaptation of chickpea in India, a wide range of sub-continental, Australian and Mediterranean genotypes were grown across seven sites characterizing the major chickpea growing areas over 3 years, and extensive data on plant stand, early vigour, phenology, productivity and yield components collected. High and low yielding sites were clearly separated by a range of physical and biological characters, low yield being associated with low latitude and pre-season rainfall, high temperature, early phenology, short crop duration, low biomass and fecundity. Genotype by environment interactions for yield were highly significant (P < 0.001), and accounted for more variance than that attributed to genotypes alone. Ward's hierarchical clustering indicated that the genotypes could be separated into discrete groups, comprising material specifically adapted to the north (Clusters 2 and 3) or south (Cluster 5), widely or consistently poorly adapted germplasm (Clusters 1 and 4, respectively).Cluster 5, comprising germplasm from southern and central India, was characterized by early phenology, confirming the role of drought escape in southern India. With increasing latitude Cluster 5 genotypes remained early, but had the capacity to delay maturity considerably, resulting in average, and occasionally above average yields. However, compared to well-adapted material in the north, Cluster 5 biomass was low, and the time interval between flowering and podding up to 50 days, representing repeated cycles of flowering and subsequent abortion. Clusters 2 and 3, dominated by northern Indian genotypes, were characterized by later phenology, and were able to delay the onset of flowering significantly more than the remaining germplasm at late flowering northern sites. In Cluster 3, the second highest yielding group overall, this increased both source and sink potential at productive northern sites. Cluster 2 was uniformly later than Cluster 3, and lower yielding at most sites. Cluster 1 was characterized by intermediate flowering and relatively early, responsive maturity, a phenological compromise responsible for wide adaptation, by providing sufficient drought escape in the south, and enough biomass in the north to produce above average yields in these contrasting environments. ICCV 10 from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), and 2 Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) lines, BG 391 and BG 1006, were the most consistently high yielding, ranking www.elsevier.com/locate/fcr Field Crops Research 98 (2006) 230-244 in the top 10 at 10 and 8 sites, respectively. Cluster 4, comprising largely Australian cultivars, was characterized by late, unresponsive phenology and the lowest yield at each site. Crown

Legume Crops Phylogeny and Genetic Diversity for Science and Breeding

“…Terminal drought is an almost ubiquitous stress in both Mediterranean and South Asian-type climates. Although chickpea has deep roots (Saxena et al, 1994), is able to extract water at depth (Zhang et al, 2000), and is capable of osmotic adjustment (Morgan et al, 1991;Basu et al, 2007;Turner et al, 2007), its principal adaptive strategy appears to be drought escape through early phenology (Silim and Saxena, 1993;Siddique et al, 2001;Berger et al, 2004Berger et al, , 2006. However, this must be balanced against its considerable chilling sensitivity, which causes chickpea to delay pod set until temperatures are warm enough.…”

Genotype and environment effects on sensory, nutritional, and physical traits in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

“…Significant genotype (G) × environment (E) interactions have also been reported for some grain nutritional quality traits in chickpea (Ghirardi et al, 1974;Berger et al, 2006;Frimpong et al, 2009), fatty acids and tocopherols , grain canning quality (Nleya et al, 2002) and milling traits, such as dehulling efficiency and splitting yield (Wood et al, 2008). These results suggest that the GE interaction for quality traits has important implications in developing selection strategies for plant breeding programs.…”

Interacción genotipo-ambiente en garbanzo blanco de semilla extra grande en el noroeste de México

“…La obtención de bajos rendimientos en localidades específicas sin déficits de humedad y fertilidad del suelo, se debió a la presión por enfermedades específicas como ocurrió en Los Mochis y Hermosillo. La precocidad a la floración se ha mencionado como característica importante en la amplia adaptación (Berger et al, 2006), sobre todo en ambientes donde el cultivo se desarrolló bajo condiciones de humedad residual con alta posibilidad de estrés por sequía terminal. En este estudio, todos los genotipos incluidos son de fenología y tamaño de grano similar.…”

“…The low yields in specific locations without moisture deficits and soil fertility was due to pressure from specific diseases such as occurred in Los Mochis and Hermosillo. Earliness to flowering mentioned as an important feature in the wide adaptation (Berger et al, 2006), especially in environments where the culture was grown under conditions of residual moisture with high possibility of terminal drought stress. In this study, including all genotypes they are phenology and similar grain size.…”