ICARDA annual report 2004

ICARDA Annual Report 2004
20
Project 1.5.
Food Legume (Lentil, Kabuli Chickpea, and
Faba Bean) Germplasm Improvement for
Increased Systems Productivity
L
entil, chickpea, and faba bean are important cool-season
food legumes in CWANA. In addition to being a major
source of dietary protein, particularly for the poor, they play
an important role in maintaining and improving soil fertility, thus
contributing to the sustainability of farming systems. In 2004,
ICARDA identified high-yielding chickpea cultivars suitable for
planting in both winter and spring. In the CAC region, many
promising chickpea lines were identified as high-yielding, diseaseresistant,
and adapted to local conditions. Three cultivars were
submitted for registration. Efforts to breed leaf-miner-resistant
chickpea continued using a new field-screening technique and
many large-seeded resistant lines were identified. In Nepal, new
large-seeded, disease-resistant, and high-yielding lentil lines were
selected, and production techniques were developed and disseminated
to farmers. Researchers mapped new QTLs for winterhardiness
in lentil and identified candidate molecular markers for
use in marker-assisted selection programs. New large-seeded,
high-yielding faba bean hybrids were developed by crossing lines
resistant to chocolate spot and Ascochyta blight.
Boosting lentil production
in Nepal
Nepal is one of the six largest
lentil-producing countries in the
world. Grown in rice- or maizebased
cropping systems, lentil
enhances soil fertility through symbiotic
nitrogen fixation. Currently,
95% of Nepal’s lentil is grown in
the lowland Terai region. More
lentil could be grown in the cooler
hilly areas, where growing seasons
are longer and lentil productivity
higher; however, Nepalese lentil
landraces are low yielding and susceptible
to various biotic and abiotic
stresses, including intermittent
drought, wilt root rot, Stemphylium
blight, and Botrytis blight.
To improve lentil production,
ICARDA has supplied genetic materials,
and technical, and humanresource-development
support to
the Nepal Agricultural Research
Council (NARC). Two improved
varieties derived from ICARDAsupplied
germplasm, ‘Shekhar’ and
‘Sital,’ have already been released.
Both were developed using South
Asian germplasm adapted to local
conditions and growing seasons,
and yield around 1.2-1.5 t/ha. They
were readily adopted by farmers
because they produce larger seeds
than local cultivars and are resistant
to wilt root-rot complex.
ICARDA’s decentralized breeding
strategy for South Asia’s shortseason
environments has produced
more promising lines that are
awaiting official release. Of these,
ILL 4402, ILL 7723, ILL 7982, ILL
7537, and ILL 6829 have been tested
on research stations and in farmers’
fields. These high-yielding
(1.9-2.9 t/ha), large-seeded lines are
resistant to multiple diseases. ILL
7723 shows considerable promise
for relay cropping in rice fields and
is spreading very quickly through
the western Terai region. Similarly,
Farmers in mid-hill areas (Bhaktapur district) in Nepal have started growing lentil variety
‘Shekhar’, where no lentil was grown in the past.