COLLECfION OF CHICKPEA GERMPLASM IN MADHYA PRADESH, INDIA AND THEIR AGRONOMIC EVALDATION

Abstract

Three-hllndred-and-fifty-one seed samples of local chIckpeas (Cicer
arietinum L.) were collected in Madhya Pradesh, India, during 1986and
1987for the world germplasm collection maintained at ICR/SAT Centre.
These missions were joint efforts of the International Crops Research
Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (fCR/SAT), Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi
Vishwa Vidyalaya (JNKVV), Jabalpur, and the National Bureau ofPlant
Genetic Resources (NBPGR), New Delhi. Vast variability was noticed
for several morphoagronomic traits of chickpea during these missions.
The collected samples were sorted 01/ t into rela tively homogenous samples
and later grOl/ped into five homogenOl/s sets for easy evaluation. These
sets were evaluated for eight agronomic traits at ICR/SAT Centre (18W)
. and GwaTior (26°N). The performance ofaccessions for seeds per pod and
lOO-seed mass were almost similar at both locations whereas other
agronomic characters varied with locations. The accessions with superior
performance in five sets and two locations were identified