Harnessing genetic variability for shoot and root morphophysiological traits contributing to drought stress tolerance in pre-breeding lines chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) under hydroponics condition

Under the global climate change, drought stress is becoming a recurrent phenomenon influencing plant growth and yield negatively, thus jeopardizing global food security. Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) grown in South Asia as a post-rainy season crop under residual soil moisture, is more often exposed to terminal drought stress, especially during the pod filling stage ultimately results in significant yield reduction in chickpea. Crop wild relatives are natural reservoirs of novel genes, including drought tolerance, that are not often found in cultivated species. Aiming to identify novel drought tolerance sources, a total of 60 pre-breeding lines of chickpea derived from the wild progenitor C. reticulatum and cultivated C. arietinum cross were screened based on various morpho-physiological traits under controlled as well as water-stressed condition in a hydroponic system. Based on the results, 15 PBLs were found to be promising as compared with reported drought-tolerant cultivar ICC 4958 and susceptible genotype ICC17264 (both were used as check). Thus, these identified pre-breeding lines could be potentially used for developing high-yielding drought resilient chickpea genotypes.