A Decade of Research Progress in Chickpea and Lentil Breeding and Genetics

Asnake Fikre, Lijalem Korbu, Million Eshete, Dagnachew Bekele, Niguse Girma, Redwan Mohamed, Syum Assefe, Daniel Admasu Bogale, Getachew Tilahun, Tewdros Tesfaye, Niguse Kefelegn, Tadele Tadesse, Yiheys Rezene, Yonas Moges, Shiv Kumar Agrawal, Zewdie Bishaw, Pooran Gaur, Rajeev Varshney, Seid Ahmed Kemal. (1/12/2018). A Decade of Research Progress in Chickpea and Lentil Breeding and Genetics. Ethiopian Journal of Crop Science, 6 (3), pp. 101-113.

Abstract

This paper summarizes achievements of chickpea and lentil breeding during the last decade /2005-2015/ in Ethiopia. Gentic yield gains from decadal breeding efforts were 80 kg/ha/year for chickpea and 52 kg/ha/yr for lentil. The germplasm enhancment and subsequent variety evaluation verification programs during the decade resulted in releases of 17 chickpea and 2 lentil varieties. These advanced varieties, when applied in production system with proper crop managment and protection practices, almost doubled productivity per unit area at farm level.