Tapping the large genetic variability for salinity tolerance in chickpea

Salinity is an ever-increasing problem in agriculture worldwide and especially in Australia. Improved genotypes that are well adapted to saline conditions are needed to enhance and sustain production in these areas. A screening of 263 accessions of chickpea, including 211 accessions from ICRISAT’s mini-core collection (10% of the core collection and 1% of the entire collection), showed a six-fold range of variation for seed yield under salinity, with several genotypes yielding 20% more than the previously-released salinity tolerant cultivar CSG8962. No significant relation was found between biomass at the late vegetative stage and final seed yield under salinity. Performance of seed yield under salinity was explained in part by the yield potential under control conditions, and a salinity tolerance component. The major trait related to salinity tolerance was the ability to maintain under salinity a large number of viable pods with seeds. In contrast, the relative seed size under salinity did not differ between tolerant and sensitive genotypes. Preliminary analysis of genotypic data for approximately 50 SSR markers on 211 genotypes revealed some associations with salinity tolerance that deserve a detailed analysis. Future effort should focus on the effect of salinity on the reproductive stage of development.