Evaluation of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) accessions for Fusarium wilt resistance

Aim: The present study was conducted to evaluate chickpea breeding lines and popular varieties for Fusarium wilt resistance through multi-location field evaluation in major chickpea growing states of India. Methodology: Forty-five chickpea accessions were evaluated for Fusarium wilt resistance in field sick plots at Kanpur, Junagadh, Sehore and Rahuri in India during 2016 and 2017. Each accession was planted in three replications in a randomized block design. The data was subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) for testing the significance of variation due to accessions, environments and their interaction. GGE biplots analysis were constructed from the first two principal components (PC1 and PC2) using 45 genotypes and 8 environments using statistical software R, versions 2.15. Results: The effects of genotype, environment and G x E interaction for wilt incidence were highly significant with maximum variation caused by G x E interaction effect (50.42%), followed by genotypic (46.92 %) and environmental effect (2.24%). GGE biplot analysis revealed that Rahuri and Junagadh locations were most discriminating locations and could differentiate the wilt resistant and susceptible chickpea accession, while Kanpur was least discriminating. Junagadh was most representative followed by Sehore and Kanpur while Rahuri was least representative of the average environment. On an average, the most severe wilt incidence was observed at Junagadh, followed by Sehore, Kanpur and Rahuri over the years. Interpretation: Elite chickpea accessions possessing high level of fusarium wilt resistant at each location can be utilized for region specific breeding.The accessions IPC 2008-11, H 2010-05, GNG 1581, JG 24, SCGP-WR 28, H 2010-01 and IPC 2008-69 exhibited stable resistance over locations. These possessed resistance against multiple races of Fusarium wilt prevailing in the country and can be utilized as donors for disease resistance breeding. Key words: Chickpea, Fusarium wilt, GGE biplot, Multi-location evaluation, Stable resistance