Response of chickpea to varying moisture stress conditions in Ethiopia

Abstract

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an economically important crop grown by nearly one million Ethiopian smallholder farmers. The crop is often considered as “stress‐loving,” but moisture stress at flowering and grain filling stages could be detrimental. Yield of chickpea is commonly affected by terminal drought stress in the rainfed production system in Ethiopia. The lack of proper field‐screening methods has hindered the development of drought‐tolerant varieties. This study demonstrates a simple and practical field‐level screening method for drought tolerance traits in the conventional breeding programs. A field experiment was conducted using 28 elite chickpea cultivars during the 2018–2019 main cropping season to study their response to moisture regimes of varying drought intensities. We used yield and its components as proxy parameters of screening to select tolerant cultivars. The study revealed significant variation among the cultivars in their response to different moisture regimes. The kabuli cultivars were found more sensitive compared with the desi types. Yield penalty exceeded 70% under severe drought. Conversely, cultivars tested under mild and severe stress drought showed average yield gain of 22 and 48%, respectively, relative to the irrigated treatment. Overall, over 50% yield gain can be obtained in drought‐affected rainfed production areas in Ethiopia using supplemental irrigation during pod setting to grain filling stages. For post‐rainy‐season crops relying on residual soil moisture, such as chickpea, breeding for shorter duration and resilient cultivars are reliable management approaches to minimize drought‐caused yield losses.

Characterization of ‘QTL-hotspot’ introgression lines reveals physiological mechanisms and candidate genes associated with drought adaptation in chickpea

“…S2 ). These results are in accordance with previous studies on chickpea ( Zaman-Allah et al , 2011 ; Vadez et al , 2012 ; Korbu et al , 2022 ), which suggest that water availability during the pod-filling period is crucial for improving seed yield under water deficit. Our results revealed that the first mega-environment experienced mild drought stress during the pod-filling stage ( Supplementary Table S4 ); hence, seed yield was found to be positively correlated with days to maturity in this mega-environment.…”

Genotype by Environment (G × E) Interaction and Yield Stability of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Varieties Across Agroecological Regions of Ethiopia

“…From this, the importance of pulse crops such as chickpea cannot be overlooked because of its major role in balancing the ecosystem, generating income, sustaining food security, and in increasing the foreign exchange of the country. Chickpea is an economically important crop grown by around one million Ethiopian smallholder farmers (Korbu et al 2022). The Ethiopian chickpea production shares 90% of the total production in sub-Saharan Africa and 3% of the world's production, and this makes Ethiopia the sixth among the world's major chickpea producers (Getahun et al 2021).…”

“…Chickpea is an economically important crop grown by around one million Ethiopian smallholder farmers (Korbu et al. 2022). The Ethiopian chickpea production shares 90% of the total production in sub‐Saharan Africa and 3% of the world's production, and this makes Ethiopia the sixth among the world's major chickpea producers (Getahun et al.…”

Fungal Infection and Mycotoxins Contamination on Farm-Stored Chickpea in Major Producing Districts of Ethiopia

“…They are an excellent choice for vegetarians as they are low in fat, high in fi ber and complex carbohydrates, and a good source of vitamins and minerals [5][6][7]. Ethiopia is the leading producer, consumer, and exporter of chickpeas in Africa, mainly grown by smallholder farmers in rain-fed areas [8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. According to the Central Statistical Agency [15], nearly 57% of total chickpea production in Ethiopia is consumed by households, with the remainder exported.…”