Selection Indices to Discern Response of Chickpea (Cicer Arietinum L.) Genotypes to Drought Stress

摘要

Breeding for drought tolerance in chickpea is a challenging task. The present investigation was undertaken to identify the morpho-physiological responses of chickpea genotypes subjected to drought stress and identify tolerant genotypes. Further it also aimed at identifying the best selection indices that can be used for identification of tolerant genotypes under drought stress. A pot experiment was carried out under water stressed conditions (no irrigation) and rain-fed (control) conditions in threereplications and observations were recorded on plant height, protein content, chlorophyll index, Membrane Stability Index (MSI), Relative Water Content (RWC), Drought Susceptibility Index (DSI), days to flowering, days to maturity, biomass, lOOseed weight and plant yield in the ten chickpea genotypes. ICG4958, Pusa 1103, CSG 8962, ICCV10313, ICCV9314, ICCV10 maintained higher MSI and also had lower DSI indicating their tolerance to drought. IC1882, ICCV9312, ICCV9313, and ICCV2 showed higher DSI. The results suggest that growth and photosynthesis are completely or partially abolished by drought stress leading to major yield losses in chickpea and in order to minimi2e the yield losses, it is important to understand the morpho-physiological basis of yield variation occurring due to drought stress. DSI and MSI would serve as an important selection index for identifying the genotypes tolerant to drought stress.