Screening of Drought Tolerant Genotypes in Kabuli Chickpea Core Collection

The present study was carried out on 300 Kabuli type chickpea genotypes clustered as terminal drought tolerant in chickpea core collection of National Plant Gene Bank of Iran. Genotypes were planted in Neyshabur in two separate experiments, one as control treatment (one irrigation at flowering and one at podding stages) and the other as drought treatment (rainfed) for two consecutive cropping seasons (2012-2014) using an augment design. High variation in drought tolerane and susceptibility suggested a high genetic diversity amoung the genotypes. Biplot display of genotypes in two growing seasons showed, that in 2012-13 growing season genotypes 5212, 5375, 6072, 5211, 5856, 6223, 5233, 5989, 5384, 5445, 6193 and in 2013-14 genotypes 5724, 5443, 5712, 5905, 5911, 6223, 5458, 5468 and 5856 were the most tolerant genotypes. Landrace genotypes were generally more tolerant than tolerant check cultivars such as Jam, Arman and Azad. Genotypes 6223, 5856, 5375, 5445, 5989 and 6193 were more tolerant genotypes in two years. These results demonstrated similar behavior of landrace genotypes in two different growing seasons and the stability of these genotypes despite the difference in stress intensity and makes clear the importance of valuable national chickpea genetic resources for development of pre breeding materials.