Germplasm evaluation of dual-season lentil (Lens culinaris) lines for the arid highlands of west Asia

Abstract

S U M M A R YExperiments to evaluate the suitability of lentil lines using an innovative dual-season approach for improved and reliable production under the harsh environmental conditions of the highlands of west Asia were conducted in Balochistan for 3 years (1986/87, 1987/88 and 1988/89) by the Arid Zone Research Institute. Two ICARDA-bred lines, ILL5865 and ILL5677, when assessed using a wide range of seeding times, appeared to be sufficiently flexible and well adapted to the conditions of extreme cold and aridity to be able to replace the ultra small-seeded local landrace. These ICARDA lines have seed sizes approximately double those of the local landrace and results of consumer acceptability studies suggest that the lines will have desirable marketing qualities. These two lines were selected for further larger-scale agronomy trials at multiple sites in Balochistan in subsequent seasons. Other lines, ILL5690, ILL1939 and ILL5730, have also shown potential, but only at certain seeding times and, as such, will be retained for further assessment in ongoing germplasm evaluation trials.Initial findings indicate that there are now good prospects for identifying dual-season lentil lines suitable for introduction into highland farming systems. However, further research will be required before new lentil lines will be an attainable reality for a large proportion of the dryland farming community of west Asia.

Reconstructing an ancient bottleneck of the movement of the lentil (Lens culinaris ssp. culinaris) into South Asia

“…Today in Pakistan lentil is grown to a small extent in the highlands of Baluchistan and the North West Frontier Province at elevations similar to those in Afghanistan (Ali et al 1991). But most of the cultivation (75%) lies in the Punjab Province particularly around Sialkot at approximately 250 m a.s.l.…”

Characterization and correlation analysis of economically important parameters of lentil exotic germplasm

“…Normally, it is not possible for the exotic germplasm to compete with the locally well-adapted genetic material but it provides some unique and useful genes like its bold seededness for incorporation into desirable genetic background. The genotypes 36102 and 36108 were almost at par with the check in yield but can be used as a diverse parent in the breeding programme to broad the genetic base as such germplasm has been used successfully in the earlier research work for developing varieties resistant to abiotic stresses (Ali et al, 1991). Out of 36 exotic genotypes plant types 21 entries were semi-erect, 8 were bushy type and 7 genotypes were of erect type.…”

Association of Growth Habit and Anthocyanin Pigment with Winter Hardiness in Lentil

“…Cold tolerance was scored on a scale of 1-5 where 1 = no foliar damage and 5= completely dead. It was recorded on March 27 when clear symptoms of cold injury after possible recovery of the plants could be seen (Auld et al, 1983;Ali et al, 1991). On 15th of December, when the plants were fully acclimatized, growth habit data were recorded on the scale of 1-3 where 1 was used for prostrate, 2 for semi-prostrate and 3 for erect growth habit.…”

“…Approximately 50 percent of the area of the Balochistan province of Pakistan is described as arid uplands (>1000 m) and is representative of the arid highlands of W. Asia (Ali et al, 1991). Highly variable and unpredictable environmental conditions (primarily cold and drought) prevail in the region where lentil is cultivated.…”