The major abiotic and biotic stresses that adversely affect yield of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) include drought, heat, fusarium wilt, ascochyta blight and pod borer. Excellent progress has been made in developing short-duration varieties with high resistance to fusarium wilt. The early maturity helps in escaping terminal drought and heat stresses and the adaptation of chickpea to short-season environments. Ascochyta blight continues to be a major challenge to chickpea productivity in areas where chickpea is exposed to cool and wet conditions. Limited variability for pod borer resistance has been a major bottleneck in the development of pod borer resistant cultivars. The use of genomics technologies in chickpea breeding programs has been limited, since available genomic resources were not adequate and limited polymorphism was observed in the cultivated chickpea for the available molecular markers. Remarkable progress has been made in the development of genetic and genomic resources in recent years and integration of genomic technologies in chickpea breeding has now started. Marker-assisted breeding is currently being used for improving drought tolerance and combining resistance to diseases. The integration of genomic technologies is expected to improve the precision and efficiency of chickpea breeding in the development of improved cultivars with enhanced resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses, better adaptation to existing and evolving agro-ecologies and traits preferred by farmers, industries and consumers.

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is known to be sensitive to many herbicides and, therefore, choices for using post-emergence herbicides for weed control are limited. The present study was aimed at identifying sources of tolerance to two herbicides with different modes of action (imazethapyr—amino acid synthesis inhibitor; and metribuzin—photosynthesis inhibitor) for use in breeding herbicide tolerant cultivars. Screening of 300 diverse chickpea genotypes (278 accessions from the reference set and 22 breeding lines) revealed large genetic variations for tolerance to herbicides imazethapyr and metribuzin. In general, the sensitivity of the genotypes to metribuzin was higher compared to that for imazethapyr. Several genotypes tolerant to metribuzin (ICC 1205, ICC 1164, ICC 1161, ICC 8195, ICC 11498, ICC 9586, ICC 14402 ICC 283) and imazethapyr (ICC 3239, ICC 7867, ICC 1710, ICC 13441, ICC 13461, ICC 13357, ICC 7668, ICC 13187) were identified, based on average herbicide tolerance scores from two experimental locations each. The herbicide tolerant lines identified in this study will be useful resources for development of herbicide tolerant cultivars and for undertaking genetic and physiological studies on herbicide tolerance in chickpea.

Rice is a staple food crop widely consumed across the world. It is rich in carbohydrates, quality protein, and micronutrients. The grain protein content (GPC) in rice varies considerably. Although it is generally lower than that of other major cereals, the quality of protein is superior. GPC and its components are complex quantitative traits influenced by both genetics and environmental factors. Glutelin is the major protein fraction (70–80%) in rice. Rice protein is rich in lysine, methionine, and cysteine along with other amino acids. Globally, Protein–Energy Malnutrition (PEM) is a major concern, particularly in Asia and Africa. Additionally, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) including diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, and obesity are on the rise due to various reasons including changes in lifestyle and consumption patterns. Rice plays a very important part in the daily human diet, and therefore, substantial research efforts focus on the genetic characterization of GPC and understanding its role in the prevention of NCDs. The contribution of both rice grain and bran protein in improving human health is an established fact. The present study summarizes the different aspects of rice grain protein including its variability, composition, factors affecting it, and its industrial uses and more importantly its role in human health.

Cluster bean is an important legume cultivated mostly on marginal and sub marginal lands of arid and semi-arid regions. Overall, India produces around 80% of global cluster bean production. It is cultivated on more than 4 m ha in India, Rajasthan alone accounts for around 80% of the area and production. Owing to its demand in the international market, it has been introduced in the non-traditional growing areas like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh. Further, its cultivation is also being taken up under irrigated conditions during summer. Cluster bean seed (endosperm) is a source of a natural hydrocolloid (galactomannan/‘guar gum’). The gum has unique abilities with multiple commercial applications like textile, printing, paper, cosmetics, mining, pharmaceutical, petroleum, natural gas, well drilling and oil industries. Green pods are nutritionally rich and are routinely consumed as vegetable especially in northern and western parts of India. Additionally, cluster bean has been reported to have beneficial effects when cultivated as an intercrop. Cluster bean meal (high protein content) obtained from seed coat and germ cell is an excellent feed for monogastric animals. Cluster bean cultivars with high gum content (>32%) and viscosity (4000-5000 cps) are more preferred for export. The value of cluster bean exports from India has increased from Rs 242 crores (1994) to Rs 2100 crores (2012-13). This review presents the various aspects of cluster bean cultivation and its emergence as an important industrial crop.

Major biotic stresses viz., bacterial blight (BB) and blast and brown plant hopper (BPH) coupled with abiotic stresses like drought stress, significantly affect rice yields. To address this, marker-assisted intercross (IC) breeding involving multiple donors was used to combine three BB resistance genes—xa5, xa13 and Xa21, two blast resistance genes—Pi9 and Pi54, two BPH resistance genes—Bph20 and Bph21, and four drought tolerant quantitative trait loci (QTL)—qDTY1.1, qDTY2.1, qDTY3.1 and qDTY12.1—in the genetic background of the elite Indian rice cultivar ‘Krishna Hamsa’. Three cycles of selective intercrossing followed by selfing coupled with foreground selection and phenotyping for the target traits resulted in the development of 196 introgression lines (ILs) with a myriad of gene/QTL combinations. Based on the phenotypic reaction, the ILs were classified into seven phenotypic classes of resistance/tolerance to the following: (1) BB, blast and drought—5 ILs; (2) BB and blast—10 ILs; (3) BB and drought—9 ILs; (4) blast and drought—42 ILs; (5) BB—3 ILs; (6) blast—84 ILs; and (7) drought—43 ILs; none of the ILs were resistant to BPH. Positive phenotypic response (resistance) was observed to both BB and blast in 2 ILs, BB in 9 ILs and blast in 64 ILs despite the absence of corresponding R genes. Inheritance of resistance to BB and/or blast in such ILs could be due to the unknown genes from other parents used in the breeding scheme. Negative phenotypic response (susceptibility) was observed in 67 ILs possessing BB-R genes, 9 ILs with blast-R genes and 9 ILs harboring QTLs for drought tolerance. Complex genic interactions and recombination events due to the involvement of multiple donors explain susceptibility in some of the marker positive ILs. The present investigation successfully demonstrates the possibility of rapid development of multiple stress-tolerant/resistant ILs in the elite cultivar background involving multiple donors through selective intercrossing and stringent phenotyping. The 196 ILs in seven phenotypic classes with myriad of gene/QTL combinations will serve as a useful genetic resource in combining multiple biotic and abiotic stress resistance in future breeding programs.