Drill-seeded rice (DSR) offers several agronomic and environmental advantages over conventional puddled-transplanted rice (PTR), including labor and water savings, reduced cultivation costs, and lower greenhouse gas emissions. Despite these benefits, weed control remains a major bottleneck in the widespread adoption of DSR. Imidazolinone (IMI)-resistant rice, which allows the use of imidazolinone herbicides, has the potential to overcome weed control challenges in DSR and can therefore facilitate the transition from PTR to DSR. However, limited information exists on the effectiveness of IMI herbicide–based weed control programs in drill-seeded IMI-resistant rice in northwestern India. Field experiments were conducted in Karnal, India, from the 2020 through 2023 growing seasons to 1) evaluate the timing and rates of imidazolinone herbicides for effective weed control in IMI-resistant rice under DSR conditions, and 2) assess the potential carryover effects of IMI herbicides on succeeding crops. Results showed that sequential early postemergence applications of imazethapyr followed by (fb) late postemergence applications of either 100 fb 150 g ai ha−1 or 125 fb 125 g ai ha−1) effectively reduced the biomass of key weed species by 83% to 100%, including barnyardgrass, crowfootgrass, and Chinese sprangletop, and provided yields that were similar to weed-free treatments. These sequential postemergence treatments were consistently more effective than conventional preemergence herbicide applications of oxadiargyl fb a postemergence application of bispyribac-sodium. Sequential preemergence fb postemergence applications of imazethapyr were relatively less effective in controlling weeds and minimizing yield losses compared to sequential postemergence applications. However, in the second and third years, oxadiargyl (90 g ai ha−1) applied preemergence fb imazethapyr (100 g ai ha−1) applied postemergence achieved comparable weed control efficiency to those of sequential postemergence applications of imazethapyr (125 fb 125 g ai ha−1). No phytotoxicity was observed in the succeeding crops of wheat, mustard, chickpea, lentil, and corn from any of the herbicide treatments applied to IMI-resistant rice.

In this paper, I explore the millennium-long presence of the chickpea in premodern China by highlighting three key historical moments. The legume had its first rise to prominence as a cosmopolitan “Muslim Bean” in the Mongol Yuan (1271–1368) imperial diet. It then experienced a phase of obscurity, as the most renowned Chinese herbalist, Li Shizhen 李時珍 (1518–1593), conflated it with the pea. A disparate identity of the legume emerged around the same time, as the bean garnered attention from famine relief specialists, consequently transforming into a source of sustenance. The multiple lives of the chickpea were characterized with a common emphasis on its foreignness, drawing connections to various Eurasian cultures beyond China. The plant’s enduring presence, coupled with ongoing allusions to its alienness, makes it a perpetual foreigner in the broad expanse of the Chinese empire.

Chickpea provides significant diversification benefits for semiarid cropping systems. However, the crop’s slow emergence and open canopy growth habit make it a poor competitor against rapidly growing weeds during the early season. In 2022 and 2023, field experiments were conducted at two sites, the Montana State University (MSU) Southern Agricultural Research Center, in Huntley, and the MSU Post Agronomy Farm, in Bozeman, to evaluate broadleaf weed management by integrating planting date and fall-applied,soil-active herbicides to chickpea. Application of dimethenamid at 950 g ai ha−1 + pendimethalin at 1.68 kg ai ha−1, and carfentrazone + sulfentrazone at 238 g ai ha−1 resulted in better protection of yield against weeds and provided longer residual activity for control of kochia, redroot pigweed, and common mallow by reducing weed density to 10 to 20 plants m−2 compared with 50 to 70 plants m−2 in an untreated check. Pyridate (700 g ai ha−1) applied postemergence was required with these treatments to eliminate escaped weeds. Early planting provided an additional biomass reduction compared to late planting due to the crop emergence before or around the same time as the weeds. Planting date had no effect on weed density or grain yield in plots that received dimethenamid + pendimethalin and carfentrazone + sulfentrazone, suggesting that these herbicides can extend the planting date window. These herbicide programs and early planting can be integrated with other weed management tactics for additional weed management options in chickpea.

Seed genebanks must maintain collections of healthy seeds and regenerate accessions before seed viability declines. Seed shelf life is often characterized at the species level; however, large, unexplained variation among genetic lines within a species can and does occur. This variation contributes to unreliable predictions of seed quality decline with storage time. To assess variation of seed longevity and aid in timing regeneration, ten varieties of pea (Pisum sativum L.), chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) and lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus subsp. culinaris) from the Australian Grains Genebank were stored at moderate temperature (20°C) and moisture (7–11% water, relative humidity [RH] ~30%) and deterioration was assessed by yearly germination tests for 20 years. Decline in germination was fit to a sigmoidal model and the time corresponding to 50% germination (P50) was used to express seed longevity for each genetic line. The feasibility of using RNA fragmentation to assess changed seed health was measured using RNA integrity number (RIN) from RNA extracted from seeds that were stored for 13 and 20 years. Seed lots of legume grains that maintained high survival throughout the 20 years (i.e. they aged slower than other lines) had higher RIN than samples that degraded faster. RIN was lower in embryonic axes compared with cotyledons in the more deteriorated samples, perhaps indicating that axes exhibit symptoms of ageing sooner than cotyledons. Overall, RIN appears to be associated with longevity indicators of germination for these legumes and indicating that RIN decline can be used to assess ageing rate, which is needed to optimize viability monitoring.

Low phosphorus use efficiency (PUE) is one of the abiotic factors that hamper yield and production potential in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). Higher yield coupled with improved PUE can make this crop more adaptive and competitive to wide cropland area, especially on marginal soils having low-level phosphorus (P). To identify chickpea germplasm lines that assimilate phosphorus more efficiently under P-deficient soils, 288 diverse genotypes of chickpea belonging to reference set were evaluated for yield component traits and PUE under field conditions for two consecutive years at two phosphorus levels (low P – no phosphorus application and high P – phosphorus application at 40 kg/ha). Based on 2-year evaluation of data under high and low P soil conditions, we identified strong correlations for traits like number of primary and secondary branches, number of pods, biological yield and seed yield indicating that these traits can be used as proxy traits for PUE. ICC 6571 was the best performing genotype under low P conditions while ICC 6579 yielded maximum under high P regime. We report 16 genotypes namely ICC 1052, ICC 1083, ICC 1098, ICC 1161, ICC 2072, ICC 4418, ICC 4567, ICC 4991, ICC 5504, ICC 5639, ICC 7413, ICC 8350, ICC 9590, ICC 9702, ICC 11584 and ICC 13357 as phosphorus use efficient genotypes based on their better performance for yield and yield-contributing traits under low P compared to high P conditions. These genotypes can be exploited in future as potential donors for development of phosphorus use efficient chickpea cultivars.

Chickpea is a cool season, photothermal-sensitive crop, that is adversely affected by high temperatures (>35°C) and whose flowering is promoted by long-day conditions (>12 h). This prevents horizontal crop spread under a variety of agro-climatic conditions and the development of insensitive genotypes that perform well in all seasons. Therefore, a study was conducted to identify genotypes that are mature early, insensitive to photoperiod, high temperature and tolerant to drought stress. A set of 74 genotypes was evaluated under rainfed conditions in Kharif 2021 (off-season) to select eight promising early-maturing genotypes with high-yielding capacity. Then further investigations were conducted in five different seasons Late Kharif 2021, rabi 2021, summer 2022, early Kharif 2022 and Kharif 2022 to identify the genotypes with photothermo-insensitivity among the selected eight genotypes. With the exception of rabi 2021, each of these seasons were distinct from the chickpea's typical growing season. Among these eight, the stable genotypes which are performed better in all the seasons, especially in summer were considered, such as IPC 06-11, MNK-1, JG-14 and ICE 15654-A as a photothermo-insensitive, were able to flower and set pods with higher seed yield and, resulting in early maturity in a temperature range of 41.4/9.3°C with photoperiods of 13.1/10.9 h to reach in all seasons throughout the year. The heritability was more than 60%. Hence, these genotypes can be used as donor aids in the development of early maturing, drought stress tolerant and photothermo-insensitive chickpea.

Drought is a major abiotic stress worldwide limiting chickpea yield drastically. Low heritability and high genotype × environment interactions make the trait-based breeding strategy an unreliable approach. This study was planned to identify the drought-tolerant lines by evaluating yield-based selection indices in a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from an inter-specific cross between drought-tolerant genotype GPF 2 (Cicer arietinum L.) and drought-sensitive accession ILWC 292 (C. reticulatum) at two locations in India (Ludhiana and Faridkot). A total of six yield-based selection indices were calculated and significant variation was observed in the RILs and their parents for yield-based selection indices at both locations. A holistic approach across association analysis and principal component analysis identified drought tolerance index, mean productivity, geometric mean productivity and harmonic mean productivity as key selection indices, which could be used for indirect selection of drought-tolerant lines. Overall, on the basis of these approaches, a total of 15 promising RILs were identified for their use in chickpea breeding programme for developing drought-tolerant cultivars.

The limited genetic resource of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is one of the most critical issue impeding its improvement and production. Collection and characterization of chickpea for agronomic traits is prerequisite to build a successful breeding programme through expanding chickpea's genepool to fulfil the needs of farmers and breeders, such as grain size and yield which supply food to a world rising population. To reach such an objective, numerous collection missions were carried out in Algeria, covering the northern agro-ecological environments, this allows us to gather 56 national and international genotypes that report a phenotypic variability and may provide a valuable diversity of useful features. Characterization experiments of 19 agro-morphological traits were set up at the Technical Institute of Field Crops over two successive seasons 2020 and 2021. All traits were statistically significant and the cluster analysis classified the genotypes into three major group, where local and improved accessions revealed an interesting outcome in terms of seed yield and resistance to Ascochyta blight. In general, the current study's findings clearly demonstrated that plant and seed morphological characteristics could be used to distinguish and identify chickpea genotypes. More often, it might participate as a source of variation in breeding programmes to meet the desirable improvement targets.

Low level of resistance to major diseases such as ascochyta blight (AB), botrytis grey mould (BGM) and dry root rot (DRR) in the cultivated chickpea genepool necessitates harnessing wild Cicer species. Sixty-eight accessions belonging to eight annual wild Cicer species and seven chickpea cultivars were screened for AB, BGM and DRR under controlled environmental conditions over the years. Intra-accession variability was observed among wild Cicer accessions for each disease. Hence, progenies of single resistant plants were selected for further evaluations and the trait-specific genetic stocks (TGS) were developed for each disease after re-screening following the single seed descent method. For AB, a high level of resistance was identified in four accessions belonging to tertiary genepool species, ICC 17334 (Cicer judaicum), ICC 17302, ICC 17308 and ICC 20177 (C. bijugum). Nine accessions, ICC 17160, ICC 17264, ICC 17270, ICC 20170, ICC 20186, ICC 20225, ICC 20247, ICC 20251 and IG 72941 of primary (C. reticulatum) and one accession, ICC 20190 of secondary (C. echinospermum) genepool species were resistant to BGM whereas, four accessions, ICC 20187 (C. reticulatum) and ICC 20218, ICC 20244 and ICC 20257 (C. echinospermum) were resistant to DRR. Development and utilization of these TGS in chickpea pre-breeding will assist in developing disease-resistant chickpea cultivars with broad genetic base.

Ever increasing global population necessitates the need to increase availability of affordable foods with high nutritional quality. Chickpea being the second most important grain legume cultivated worldwide has the great potential to alleviate problems of protein malnutrition and hidden hunger. The objective of the present investigation was to characterize a diverse set of 402 germplasm comprising of more than 100 commercial cultivars widely cultivated and utilized by breeders for grain protein in two contrasting environments to explore the magnitude of natural genotypic diversity present in the cultivated chickpea and the scope for enhancing it and its quality through breeding. The cultivars containing more than 25 to 30.44% grain protein have been found in the study and large scale production of such protein rich cultivars is expected to increase availability as well as consumption of high quality chickpea necessary to overcome all forms of malnutrition. Trait specific germplasm containing grain protein up to 33.56% are also identified for their further utilization as potential donors in the chickpea improvement programme. The amino acid profiling of selected high and low protein containing genotypes showed considerably greater average amino acid score for all the essential amino acids than the WHO recommended requirement values and is comparable to those of the ‘complete protein’ sources of food suggesting that chickpea deserves to be considered as a ‘complete protein’ source.

In order to enhance genetic potential of chickpea materials from the National University of Córdoba Breeding Programme and Germplasm collection (Argentina), a study for a comprehensive understanding of the amount and pattern of genetic variation within and between genotypes was carried out by applying a multivariate analysis form single simple repeats (SSR) and morphological data. Molecular data were also used to determine the discriminating power for genotype identification, and to find the optimal primer combination to ensure unambiguous identification. With the analysis of 15 SSR markers on 53 genotypes, a total of 58 alleles were detected with individual values ranging from one to nine alleles per locus. High values of discriminating power (Dj ⩾ 0.7, PIC ⩾ 0.7), and low values of confusion probability (Cj ⩽ 0.23) were obtained for at least four evaluated markers. The combination of TA113 + TA114 + H1B09 + TA106 primers was effective for discriminating the 53 chickpea genotypes with a cumulative confusion probability value (Ck) of 9.60 × 10−4. Except for some exceptions, individual chickpea genotypes within a cluster in the consensus tree were definitely more closely related with each other by the origin or pedigree. The results confirmed that both multivariate data analysis methods, ordination and clustering, were complementary. In most genotypes, discriminant principal component analysis classification was consistent with the original clusters defined by molecular data. Differences in results from molecular and morphological data indicate that they provide complementary and relevant information for establishing genetic relationships among chickpea materials and a better description and interpretation of the available variability in the germplasm collection.

This study examined energy, greenhouse gas emission and ecological footprint analysis (EFA) of chickpea and lentil cultivation with different mechanization production systems. In lentil production, except for tillage operations, other operations are performed manually and the remaining straw is burned in the field; while in chickpea production, most of the agricultural operations are mechanized and residues are collected, baled and transferred to the warehouse for animal feed. In this paper, for the first time, some of the sustainability indicators are investigated and compared in two different legume production systems. Energy productivity and net energy for chickpea and lentil production were calculated at 0.036, 0.161 and 2373 and 5900 MJ per hectare, respectively. The CO2 emission and ecological carbon footprint were 173 kg CO2−eq and 0.15 global hectare for lentil and 484 and 0.87 for chickpea production. Totally, due to excessive consumption of diesel fuel and lack of proper management, the social cost of emission from straw baling in chickpea production (27.65 dollars per hectare) was higher than burning straw in lentil production (8.77). Multi-objective genetic algorithm results showed the potential of minimizing diesel fuel and fertilizer consumption and no chemical for chickpea production. Overall audition results of two different production systems revealed that traditional lentil production is more sustainable. Therefore, implementations of modern agricultural practices alone are not enough to achieve sustainability in agricultural production systems.

Plant height in chickpea is a multivariate, dynamic trait, and shows differences in growth rate at different stages of plant development in different genotypes. In the majority of plant-breeding experiments, the phenotypic data on a quantitative trait measured at a fixed time point (generally at maturity) are used for quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping. However, this method can result in missing important/major QTLs which are expressed at different time points and are not expressed at maturity. In the current study, using a set of 49 desi chickpea genotypes sown at three different durations for two successive years, we observed that heritability for plant height was highest at the 2 month stage in the normal sown trial, and at the 1 month stage in late-sown trials. However, heritability drastically declines at maturity, particularly due to heat stress with an increase in temperatures during the growing period. In the association analysis, it was also observed that almost all the marker–trait associations (MTAs) identified using endpoint phenotypes were identified using data obtained at different intervals. In addition, some novel and stage-specific MTAs were identified using phenotypic data recorded at monthly intervals. The results highlight the importance of multistage phenotyping for dynamic traits like plant height in germplasm characterization programmes.

Chickpea is one of the most important nutritious grain legume crops in the world. There is limited information available on micro- and macro-nutrients in chickpea. Therefore, an effort was made to evaluate a set of 40 chickpea genotypes belonging to all the gene pools including cultivated (Cicer arietinum) as well as wild, Cicer reticulatum from the primary gene pool, Cicer echinospermum from the secondary gene pool and Cicer microphyllum from the tertiary gene pools. Concentration in the seed of the micro- (Zn, Fe, Cu and Mn) and macro-nutrients (Ca, Mg and K) was studied. Substantial variation was observed among different gene pools for the concentration of all the nutrients. The cultivated chickpea exhibited higher seed Cu, Mn, Mg and Ca than wilds indicating positive domestication effect, whereas wild crop relatives were found to have higher levels than cultivated chickpeas for seed Zn, Fe and K concentrations. While comparing desi-type chickpeas with Kabulis, it was revealed that desi types possessed more Zn, Cu, Ca and Mg than Kabulis but reverse was true for seed Fe, Mn and K. Among different desi types (desi brown, desi green and desi black), desi brown types were generally associated with higher mineral nutrient levels. The present study led to the identification of most promising genotypes for different seed micro- and macro-nutrients. These promising lines may serve as genetic resources useful in gene discovery programmes and for alleviating malnutrition or hidden hunger in the developing world.

Field dodder is an obligatory stem and leaf plant parasite that causes significant damage in field and vegetable crops in all agricultural regions of the globe. Selective and effective measures to control the parasite are extremely limited. In recent studies, we have shown that granular formulations of dinitroaniline cell division–inhibiting herbicides applied after crop establishment and before dodder germination fit our dodder control strategy and kill the parasite effectively and selectively. The aim of our study conducted from 2014 to 2018 was to evaluate the efficacy and selectivity of granular pendimethalin for dodder control in chickpea under laboratory, greenhouse, and field conditions. Petri dish experiments revealed that the herbicide reduces dodder seed germination while its main effect is a restriction of shoot elongation. Greenhouse experiments demonstrated that the inhibition and distortion of dodder shoot growth impede shoot twining and prevent attachment to the host plant. In dose–response experiments conducted in the greenhouse, we observed that half the recommended rate of granular pendimethalin provides efficient dodder control with no damage to chickpea seedlings. In 3 yr of chickpea field trials, GPM applied across the seeding bed at the recommended rate resulted in high crop yields that were not significantly different from those observed for the untreated no-dodder control, while half of the recommended dose efficiently controlled dodder and other weeds with no damage to the crop, resulting in significantly increased chickpea yields and profitability. These studies indicate that GPM can provide efficient and selective dodder control in chickpea.

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an important grain legume nutritionally balanced for human consumption. The physical properties of chickpea seeds are important for processing and storage as well as for assessing seed quality and the hydration properties related to cooking quality. The chickpea mini core collection (211 accessions) and four control cultivars were evaluated for seed morphological (seed colour, shape, dots on seed coat and surface texture); physical (seed moisture content, 100-seed weight, seed coat content, length, width, thickness, geometric mean diameter (GMD), surface area, sphericity, shape aspect, volume, bulk density, true density and porosity); and hydration traits (hydration capacity, hydration index, swelling capacity and swelling index). Highly significant differences were observed for all the seed traits in the mini core collection. Correlation coefficients indicated that accessions with high or more seed weight, GMD, sphericity, seed shape aspect, swelling capacity and swelling index would be useful for utilization in research. The results of this study have refined the seed traits of chickpea and resulted in identifying several desirable accessions in the mini core. Some of these accessions were previously identified as promising sources for important agronomic and nutritional traits and for resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses and will be useful sources to develop high-yielding cultivars with desirable seed physical and hydration quality.

Intercropping of legumes in cereals and manuring are important measures to sustain soil fertility and enhance crop productivity in general and under organic and limited moisture conditions in particular. This study evaluated different wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) + chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) row ratios as intercrops under organic and limited moisture conditions in Northwest India with an aim to find out the suitable row ratio to get higher system productivity under these conditions. Chickpea, being a legume, produces nitrogen compounds that help the plant to grow itself and also makes them available to the companion wheat plants and thus helps in wheat nutrition, which otherwise becomes limited due to less mineralization of nitrogen under organic and cold weather conditions. The primary aim of the study was to get better productivity of wheat crop as this is an assured crop of this region. The intercropping system was evaluated in a randomized complete block design with four replications at Ludhiana, Punjab in Northwest India during 2013–2014 and 2014–2015. Effective tillers m−1 row length, number of grains spike−1 and 1000-grain weight of wheat were higher in wheat + chickpea (2:1) intercropping system as compared with sole wheat. This intercropping system produced significantly higher wheat grain yield, wheat equivalent yield and land equivalent ratio than sole wheat. Wheat + chickpea (2:1) and wheat + chickpea (3:1) intercropping systems gave higher water-use efficiency than sole wheat. However, chickpea gave higher yield attributes and seed yield as sole crop than that in different intercropping systems. Wheat + chickpea (2:1) and wheat + chickpea (3:1) intercropping systems produced mean wheat grain yields of 5.11 and 4.79 Mg ha−1, respectively, along with additional mean chickpea seed yields of 0.28 and 0.24 Mg ha−1, respectively.

Field studies were conducted in 2003 and 2004 near Scottsbluff and Sidney, NE, to identify efficacious chemical weed-control options for irrigated and dryland chickpea production. Weed control had a greater relative effect on chickpea yield in the irrigated system than the dryland system, with yield from the hand-weeded check exceeding the nontreated check by 1,500% in the irrigated system and 87% in the dryland system. Imazethapyr, applied preemergence at the rate of 0.053 kg ai/ha, reduced plant height, delayed plant maturity, and caused leaf chlorosis. At Scottsbluff, preplant-incorporated ethalfluralin caused significant crop injury in 2003, but the ethalfluralin treatment also maintained weed densities 4 wk after crop emergence that were not significantly different than the hand-weeded check at both locations in 2003 and 2004. Treatments containing sulfentrazone provided a similar level of weed control but without any evidence of crop injury. Pendimethalin and pendimethalin + dimethenamid-P applied preemergence provided acceptable weed control in the irrigated system, where water was applied within 4 d after herbicide application, but did not provide acceptable control in the dryland system.

POST broadleaf weed control options in chickpea are very limited on the Northern Great Plains. Field experiments were conducted in 2012 and 2013 in Saskatchewan to evaluate the response of chickpea cultivars to imidazolinone (IMI) herbicides applied at different growth stages. Conventional cultivars ‘CDC Luna’ and ‘CDC Corinne’ were compared with IMI-resistant cultivars ‘CDC Alma’ and ‘CDC Cory’. Treatments comprised a combination of imazethapyr + imazamox herbicides at 30 and 60 g ai ha−1 (1× and 2× rates, respectively) applied at the 2 to 4-, 5 to 8-, and 9 to 12-node growth stages. Visual injury estimates were > 50% for CDC Luna and CDC Corinne for all growth stage applications. Conventional cultivars also experienced height reduction and decreased rate of node development compared with the nontreated controls. Flowering and maturity of CDC Luna and CDC Corinne were delayed for herbicide applications at all growth stages; however, application at the 9 to 12-node stage caused the most severe delay. All treatments of IMI herbicide caused yield reduction in the conventional cultivars in 2013. In contrast, IMI-resistant cultivars CDC Alma and CDC Cory demonstrated no negative response at any growth stage of IMI herbicide application. Visual injury estimates were negligible, and height, node development, days to flowering, maturity, and yield did not differ significantly between IMI-treated plants and the respective controls. These results demonstrated the potential of in-crop use of IMI herbicide on resistant chickpea cultivars to control broadleaf weeds.

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an important food legume crop grown mostly in Asia and Africa as well as in other parts of the world, and serves as an important source of protein in the diets of vegetarian people. Lot of variation in grain quality traits has been observed in cultivated chickpea in both desi and Kabuli types. It has often been observed that seeds with smaller size have more protein when compared with those with larger size. The joint dependence of these two traits on the same primary characteristics results in this negative relationship. This negative correlation coupled with breeding efforts aimed at increasing grain yield has hampered the progress of improving these two traits simultaneously. Therefore, a germplasm exhibiting wider variability for these quantitative traits is an important resource for the identification of novel alleles. Herein, we report the wide variation observed for five important quantitative traits including days to flowering, days to maturity, plant height, 100-seed weight and protein content, and also report the significant positive correlation observed between 100-seed weight and protein content in a diverse collection of chickpea germplasm comprising both desi and Kabuli types.