Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 5
Chickpea and temperature stress:
An overview
Viola Devasirvatham 1 , Daniel K.Y. Tan 1 , Pooran M. Gaur 2 and Richard M. Trethowan 1
1 Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, Plant Breeding Institute, The University of Sydney, Cobbitty, NSW, Australia
2 International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru, Telangana, India
5.1 Introduction
Projections to the end of the 21st century estimate a rise
in global mean temperature of between 1.8 and 4°C,
depending on greenhouse emissions and changes in
rainfall patterns (IPCC, 2007a,b). Such changes in
climate will impact crop production and some estimates
suggest a grain yield decrease of between 8 and 30%
(ICRISAT, 2009).
Changes in seasonal temperature and rainfall patterns
and their subsequent impact on yield may change the
geographic distribution of chickpea production. In
Australia, chickpea could expand in new production
areas where the frequency of low temperatures (<15°C)
is higher during early crop growth (Maqbool et al.,
2010). However, temperatures lower than 10°C at
flowering can reduce grain yield by 15-20% (Chaturvedi
et al., 2009). In contrast, the frequency of high temper-
atures (>30°C) during the reproductive stage is often
higher in the Australian chickpea production areas of
northern New South Wales (NSW) (Devasirvatham
et al., 2012a) and any increase in the frequency and
duration of these temperatures will limit productivity.
A decrease in chickpea yields of 53 kg/ha was observed
in north India per 1°C increase in seasonal temperature
(Kalra et al., 2008). In south India, the yield loss was
estimated to be 10-15% for every 1°C increase beyond
the optimum temperature (Upadhyaya et al., 2011). The
effect of high and low temperatures on grain quality
(grain size and seed coat colour) is also a recognized
problem (Wery et al., 1994).
Considerable progress in the improvement of chickpea
adaption to stressful environments has been made.
Screening the germplasm in the field and controlled
Chickpea is an important food grain legume and an
essential component of crop rotations throughout the
world. However, the adaptation and productivity of
chickpea is often limited by low and high tempera-
tures. Cold stress generally occurs in the late vegetative
and reproductive stages across the geographical areas
of chickpea production. Cold and freezing temp-
eratures (−1.5°C to 15°C) are considered a major
problem during the seedling stage of winter-sown
chickpea in Mediterranean areas and autumn-sown
crops in temperate regions (Singh, 1993). South
Australia and parts of north India are most affected by
chilling temperatures at flowering (Berger et al., 2011).
On the other hand, high day and night temperatures
(>30/16°C) may cause damage during the reproductive
stage on winter-sown chickpea in Mediterranean in-
season rainfall areas, south Asia and spring-sown
regions (Berger et al., 2011). In chickpea, temperature
is a major environmental factor regulating the timing
of flowering thus influencing grain yield (Summerfield
et al., 1990; Berger et al., 2004). Both low and high tem-
peratures can limit the growth and grain yield of
chickpea at all phenological stages.
The FAO climate change technical paper and the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have
provided evidence of climate change linked to human
activity. Global temperature has been increasing at the
rate of 0.74°C per 100 years (IPCC, 2007a). Over the
past 50 years, the linear warming trend has been nearly
twice the rate of the previous 100 years (FAO, 2009).
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