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Genes of climate-resistant chickpea varieties identified
Why is it in news?
- An international team led by the Hyderabad-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has identified in chickpea four important genes for heat tolerance and three important genes for drought tolerance.
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- How will it (Research) help?(1) With rising temperatures and increasing climatic fluctuations due to climate change, the identification of these climate-resistant genes will help in developing newer chickpea varieties which can tolerate temperatures up to 38 ° C.(2) Also, the identification of other genes with important agromic traits will help in increasing the yield and providing better resistance to pests and diseases.
- About study: The study was based on complete genome sequencing of 429 chickpea lines from 45 countries.
- Chickpea cultivation:(1) More than 90% of chickpea cultivation area is in South Asia, including India. Globally, more than 70% yield is lost due to drought and increasing temperatures.(2) Chickpea is a cool season crop, so in general any further increase in temperature is expected to further reduce the yield.(3) In India, chickpea is generally sown in September-October and harvested in January-February.
- Diversity, domestication:(1) The study has found that chickpea originated in the Mediterranean/south-west Asia and migrated to south Asia.(2) It reached India about two centuries ago, apparently through Afghanistan.(3) In parallel, it migrated from the Mediterranean to east Africa and central Asia. The study provides insights into chickpea’s genetic diversity, domestication too.
Source
The Hindu