Breeding for increased nitrogen fixing ability among wild and cultivated species of chickpea

Abstract

Two chickpea species, one wild (Cicer reticulatum JM2106) and one cultivated (C. arietinum ICC8923) were selected as the parents for this study. C. reticulatum showed high nodule number, nodule dry weight and nitrogen content/plant as compared to C. arietinum. In lines derived from the crosses H208 × (ICC8923 × JM2106) and BG274 × (ICC8923 × JM2106), increase in nodule dry weight, nitrogen content/plant, plant dry weight and grain yield was observed over the parent ICC8923. Similarly F6 lines also showed improvement in these traits over the cultivated parent. It is concluded that the increase in grain yield and dry matter is the result of improvement in nitrogen utilisation together with an increase in the available fixed nitrogen. Copyright © 1990, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved