Chickpea, a protein-rich legume grown primarily in tropical and subtropical regions, faces significant challenges due to drought stress. A field study was conducted over two years (2020-21 and 2021-22) aimed to identify chickpea genotypes that are tolerant to drought. The study involved 25 chickpea genotypes subjected to irrigated (control) and water stress (drought) conditions and the experiment was arranged in a split-plot design. The study results indicated significant variation among the genotypes, water treatments, years, and their interactions. Multiple stress tolerance indices, association analysis, principal component analysis, biplot analysis, clustering, and ranking methods were employed to identify drought tolerant genotypes. The stress tolerance index (STI), mean relative performance (MRP), and relative efficiency index (REI) were identified as the most effective indicators for pinpointing genotypes with high yield potential under both experimental conditions. Genotypes viz., BDG75, BGD103, Digvijay, ICCV92944, ICC4958, and JG16 showed high drought tolerance, as evidenced by their favourable performance in terms of mean rank, standard deviation of ranks, and rank sum. Conversely, the genotypes ICCV96030, JG63, GNG1581, JG12, PG186, GG2, Pusa362, and SAKI9516 were found sensitive. Correlation analysis, ranking techniques, cluster analysis, PCA, and biplot analysis effectively distinguished between drought-tolerant and drought-sensitive genotypes. The biplot analysis further reconfirmed the notable drought tolerance of the BDG75, BGD103, Digvijay, ICCV92944, ICC4958, and JG16 genotypes. This study demonstrated that an index-based selection approach can be used to screen and identify chickpea genotypes that exhibit higher tolerance to water stress effectively and rapidly. Therefore, the findings underscore the potential of using selection indices as a viable strategy for enhancing drought tolerance in chickpeas.

Appropriate water management practices are essential for the successful cultivation of chia in water-scarce situations of semiarid regions. This is highly essential when new crops such as chia are introduced for ensuring diversity and water saving. Therefore, field trials (2020–21 and 2021–22) were conducted to understand the impact of deficit irrigation and bioregulators (BRs) on the seed yield, water productivity, and oil quality of chia. The effect of foliar application of BRs such as thiourea (TU; 400 ppm), salicylic acid (SA; 1.0 mM), potassium nitrate (KN; 0.15%), potassium silicate (KS; 100 ppm), kaolin (KO; 5%), and sodium benzoate (SB; 200 ppm) were monitored at different levels of irrigation: 100 (I₁₀₀), 75 (I₇₅), 50 (I₅₀), and 25 (I₂₅) percent of cumulative pan evaporation (CPE). Deficit irrigation at I₂₅, I₅₀, and I₇₅ led to 55.3, 20.1, and 3.3% reductions in seed yield; 42.5, 22.5, and 4.2% in oil yield; and 58.9, 24.5, and 5.7% in omega–3 yield, respectively, relative to I₁₀₀. Bioregulators could reduce the adverse impact of water deficit stress on seed, oil, and omega–3 yield. However, their beneficial effect was more conspicuous under mild water stress (I₇₅), as revealed by higher seed yield (4.3–6.9%), oil yield (4.4–7.1%), and omega–3 yield (4.7–8.5%) over control (I₁₀₀ + no BRs). Further, BRs (KN, TU, and SA) maintained oil quality in terms of linolenic acid and polyunsaturated fatty acid contents, even under mild stress (I₇₅). Foliar application of KN, TU, and SA could save water to an extent of 36–40%. Therefore, the adverse impact of deficit irrigation on seed, oil, and omega–3 yields of chia could be minimized using BRs such as KN, TU, and SA, which can also contribute to improved water productivity.

Crop adaptation to waterlogging stress necessitates alterations in their morpho-physiological and biochemical characteristics. Cowpeas, which serve as a dual-purpose legume crop (food and fodder), are sensitive to waterlogging stress, especially when exposed to extended periods of water stagnation during the early growth stage. In this study, we subjected five distinct and superior cowpea varieties to 10 days of waterlogging stress at the early seedling stage (V2, 15 days post emergence for 10 days) under controlled conditions. The aim was to comprehend the response of these varieties and identify the ideal trait for screening a large collection of cowpea genetic resources for waterlogging tolerance. We measured and analyzed changes in morpho-physiological and root parameters to gain a deeper understanding of the mechanism underlying waterlogging tolerance. The treatment (waterlogging and control), genotype, and their interactions had a significant impact on the most studied traits (p < 0.05). The results indicated a significant reduction in morpho-physiological parameters such as plant height, leaf area, leaf number, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), chlorophyll content, and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters under stress treatment than control conditions. However, root parameters like the number of adventitious roots (AR) and their length (ARL) significantly increased under waterlogging stress in tolerant cowpea varieties like DC15 and PL4. Correlation and PCA analyses further revealed a positive and significant association between cowpeas’ waterlogging tolerance and AR formation and its AR length. Therefore, the current study reveals that swift development of AR and ARL may serve as potential traits conferring waterlogging tolerance in cowpeas. Using suitable mapping populations, these traits could reveal genomic regions associated with waterlogging tolerance in cowpeas. The tolerant varieties and key traits identified in this study could be beneficial in breeding programs aimed at enhancing waterlogging tolerance in cowpeas.

Intercropping offers greater scope to introduce new crops. Cultivation of crops with diverse root architecture and different durations enhances the productivity of scarce resources like land and water. This study aimed to determine the effect of intercrop competition and irrigation regimes on yield, competition, land usage, irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE), and fatty acids of chia. The field experiment was conducted in semi-arid India during 2020–2022 with full (I₁₀₀) and deficit irrigation (I₅₀) and six intercrops. Results demonstrated that chia + fenugreek intercropping in I₅₀ improved the crops’ competitiveness, land equivalent ratio (LER) (1.77), land use efficiency (142.5%), and the IWUE of chia (23.2%). Notably, a chia + radish/spinach system in I₅₀ reduced the seed yield (42.6–45.0%) of chia over I₁₀₀ monocropping. A chia + fenugreek system in I₅₀ resulted in a higher seed yield (196.2 kg ha⁻¹) than chia monocropping in I₁₀₀. Further, chia + fenugreek intercropping resulted in higher omega-3 content (56.68%) under I₁₀₀. Therefore, a chia + fenugreek system under I₁₀₀ may be suggested over monocropping for better yield and oil quality. However, during water scarcity situations, growers can adopt a chia + fenugreek system under I₅₀ which can give a similar chia equivalent yield and a higher LER and IWUE compared to chia monocropping under I₁₀₀.