Abiotic stresses.

This chapter focuses on the main abiotic constraints (drought, salinity, cold, heat, waterlogging, nutrient deficiency and toxicity) facing chickpea production in the world. It also reviews selection criteria and available genetic resources for stress resistance, and finally proposes future strategies for chickpea improvement under abiotic stress conditions. Recent advances in biotechnology, linkage mapping, marker-assisted breeding, embryo rescue techniques and transformation technology hold much promise for enhancing chickpea yield under various abiotic stresses.