Effect of Temperature and Photoperiod on Time to Flowering in Chickpea

Abstract

Flowering time is a key factor in determining the adaptation of crops to diverse environments. Temperature and photoperiod are the two major environmental variables that affect the length of the period between sowing and flowering and the rate of plant development. The objectives of this research were to examine the days to flowering of selected chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) accessions grown in a range of thermal regimes combined with either long or short days and to examine the interaction between photoperiod and day and night temperatures on flowering response. Eight chickpea accessions representative of different photoperiod sensitivity responses were included, that is, day‐neutral (ICCV 96029 and FLIP‐98‐142C), intermediate (ICC 8621, ICC 8855, ICC 15294, and ILC 1687), and highly sensitive (‘CDC Frontier’ and ‘CDC Corinne’). Significant effects of accession, temperature, photoperiod, and their interaction were observed for days to flower. Under long photoperiod combined with the higher temperature regime, earliest flowering was observed in day‐neutral accessions followed by intermediate accessions, then photoperiod‐sensitive accessions, which flowered, on average, in 20, 23, and 41 d, respectively. For the two day‐neutral accessions, the difference in the number of days to flower under 16 h photoperiod combined with the temperature regimes of 24 and 16°C and 20 and 12°C (day vs. night) was not significant. Regression analysis revealed that days to flower of the day‐neutral, intermediate, and photoperiod‐sensitive accessions was a linear function of temperature (R2 = 0.88–0.99) within the photoperiod.

Determination of Photoperiod-Sensitive Phase in Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

“…The two high yielding accessions developed and released by the Crop Development Centre, University of Saskatchewan [CDC Corinne (S1) and CDC Frontier (S2)] ( Warkentin et al, 2005 ; Tar’an et al, 2009 ) had the longest time to flowering, as well as longer duration of photoperiod sensitivity phases under LD and SD. Daba et al (2015 , 2016 ) reported that ICCV 96029 (N1) and FLIP98-142C (N2) flowered the earliest; ICC 15294 (I1), ICC 8621 (I2), ILC 1867 (I3), and ICC 8855 (I4) flowered intermediate and CDC Frontier (S2) and CDC Corinne (S1) flowered the latest under a combination of temperature and photoperiod in the growth chamber conditions.…”

Sowing Date Affects the Timing and Duration of Key Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Growth Phases

“…However, those sown on SD4 emerged when days were starting to lengthen after the winter solstice on 21 June. Chickpea can be photoperiod insensitive/day length neutral, intermediate sensitive or highly sensitive to day length [ 24 ]. The genotypes used in this study are all photoperiod sensitive as their ability to switch from the vegetative phase to the reproductive phase was affected by sowing time, with longer days reducing the thermal time target, thus requiring fewer GDD to flower.…”

Accounting for soil moisture improves prediction of flowering time in chickpea and wheat

“…Matching crop phenology to environment is critical for stress adaptation and crop yield 7 , hence the importance of accurate prediction of flowering time. Based on experimental studies 8,9 , crop simulation models including the Agriculture Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) and Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) 10–13 , model chickpea phenology as a function of temperature and photoperiod. However, prediction of flowering time based on these two parameters is relatively poor 14–16 , suggesting other drivers of crop development may have been overlooked.…”