Screening chickpea resistance to water deficits: the yield perspective.

s of the 5th European Plant Science Organisation Conference, Finland. 2010 Screening chickpea resistance to water deficits– th e yield perspective Session: Achieving sustainability – Breeding tools and strategies Screening a wide range of germplasm from our major cr ps (including legumes) to search for genetic variation of traits involved in stress resistance is extremely relevant in the context of predicted i ncrease in aridity in several areas of the world, including the Mediterranean (1, 2). On the other hand, the keystone of ‘crop drought resistance’ relies on the eff ctive use by the crop of a limiting water supply (3,4). This can be achie ved by choosing the appropriate genotype and/or agronomical practices s uch as the adjustment of crop phenology to its environment or the use of def icit irrigation. In the framework of the EU project KBBE-2008-212337 ‘ Sustainable water use securing food production in dry areas of the Mediterranean region (SWUPMED)’ we are studying a wide range of chickpea ( Cicer arietinum L.) accessions in two sites (South Portugal and Syria/I CARDA) in what concerns yield potential under limiting and non-lim it ng soil water and the physiological traits underlying those responses. Ch ickpea is a widely grown grain legume offering high-quality protein, besides providing an input of N2 into the soil and a disease break in rotation with other crops. However, yield is still low in many of the growing regions, especi ally when terminal drought is likely to occur (5). We have identified a signif icant genetic variability in what concerns yield (from 1000 to above 2000kg. ha -1 under rainfed conditions), harvest index (from 25 to 60%) and pla nt water status under similar available soil water. Phenological differen c s may play an important role in explaining yield differences in the accessi on studied. In addition to yield we will study seed quality traits as affected by the genotype and the environment. Our results will be used to model crop water requirements, predict yields and support breeding efforts (6). (1) Chaves MM and WJ Davies 2010 Research Front on Drought Effects and Water Use Efficiency: Improving crop adaptation to dry environments. Functional Plant Biology, 37: iii-vi (2) Chaves MM, Oliveira MM. 2004. Mechanisms underlying plant resi li nce to water deficits. Prospects for water-savin g agriculture. Journal Experimental Botany 55: 2365-2384; (3) Blum A 2009 Effective use of wa ter (EUW) and not water-use efficiency (WUE) is the target of crop yield improvement under drought stress. Field Crop Research 112: 119-123.; (4) Passioura J. 2007. The drought environment: physical, biological and agricultural perspectives. Journal of Experimental Botany 58: 113-117; (5) Turner et al 2007 Osmotic adjustment in chickpea ( Cicer arietinum L.) results in no yield benefit under terminal dro ught. Journal of Experimental Botany 58: 187-194; (6) Ragab, R., N. Malash, G. Abdel Ga wad, A. Arslan and A. Ghaibeh, 2005. A holistic generic integrated approa ch for irrigation, crop and field management: 1. Th e SALTMED model and its application using field data from Egypt and Syria. International Journal of Agricultural Water Management, 78 (1-2) 67-88. Duarte I* Silva LL† Simões N*‡ Imtiaz M+ Pinheiro C‡ Lourenço E† Chaves MM‡ * INRB, I.P./INIA, Elvas, Apartado 6, 7350-951 Elvas. Portugal. †Universidade de Évora, Instituto de Ciências Agrárias e Ambientais Mediterrânicas (ICAAM). Apartado 94, 7002-554 Évora, Portugal. + International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas, P.O. Box 5466 Aleppo, Syria. Chaves MM‡ Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Apartado 127, 2781901 Oeiras. mchaves@itqb.unl.pt