Details for Phenotyping chickpeas and pigeonpeas for adaptation to drought

Upadhyaya HD, Kashiwagi J, Varshney RK, Gaur PM, Saxena KB, Krishnamurthy L, Gowda CLL, Pundir RPS,  Chaturvedi SK, Basu PS and Singh IP (2012). Phenotyping chickpeas and pigeonpeas for adaptation to drought.  Frontiers in Plant Physiology 3:179. (DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2012.00179).

The chickpea and pigeonpea are protein-rich grain legumes used for human consumption in many countries. Grain yield of these crops is low to moderate in the semi-arid tropics with large variation due to high GxE interaction. In the Indian subcontinent chickpea is grown in the post-rainy winter season on receding soil moisture, and in other countries during the cool and dry post winter or spring seasons. The pigeonpea is sown during rainy season which flowers and matures in post-rainy season. The rainy months are hot and humid with diurnal temperature varying between 25 and 35˚C (maximum) and 20 and 25˚C (minimum) with an erratic rainfall. The available soil water during post-rainy season is about 200–250 mm which is bare minimum to meet the normal evapotranspiration. Thus occur- rence of drought is frequent and at varying degrees. To enhance productivity of these crops cultivars tolerant to drought need to be developed.

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