Susceptibility to drought stress has restrained chickpea productivity at a global level, and the development of drought-tolerant varieties is essential to maintain its productivity. Therefore, the present study was conducted to evaluate genetic divergence in selected genotypes of chickpea and their morpho-physiological responses under irrigated and stressed conditions to identify the traits that account for the better performance of these genotypes under stressed conditions, as well as genotypes with improved drought tolerance. The genotypes were evaluated for two years under irrigated and drought stressed conditions, and significant variation was found amongst the genotypes for different morpho-physiological and yield traits. The maximum reduction was observed for plant yield (33.23%) under stressed conditions. Principle component analysis (PCA)-based biplots and correlation studies established its strong positive correlation with relative water content (RWC), membrane stability index (MSI), chlorophyll index (CI), secondary branches (SB) and yield traits and negative correlations with drought susceptibility index (DSI), days to maturity (DM) and 100 seed weight (100 SW) under drought stress, suggesting their use in selecting drought-tolerant germplasm. Ten genotypes with high values of RWC, MSI, CI, SB, yield traits and lower DSI were identified as drought-tolerant and might serve as ideal donors in the forthcoming breeding of elite chickpea cultivars. The seed-filling stage began earlier in these genotypes, with significantly reduced days to maturity under stressed conditions. Our results indicate selection for earliness offers a promising strategy for the development of drought-tolerant chickpea cultivars.

Identifying a congenially targeted production environment and understanding the effects of genotype by environmental interactions on the adaption of chickpea genotypes is essential for achieving an optimal yield stability. Different models like additive main effect and multiplicative interactions (AMMI 1, AMM2), weighted average absolute scores of BLUPs (WAASB), and genotype plus genotype–environment (GGE) interactions were used to understand their suitability in the precise estimation of variance and their interaction. Our experiment used genotypes that represent the West Asia–North Africa (WANA) region. This trial involved two different sowing dates, two distinct seasons, and three different locations, resulting in a total of 12 environments. Genotype IG 5871(G1) showed a lower heat susceptibility index (HSI) across environments under study. The first four interactions principal component axis (IPCA) explain 93.2% of variations with significant genotype–environment interactions. Considering the AMMI stability value (ASV), the genotypes IG5862(G7), IG5861(G6), ILC239(G40), IG6002(G26), and ILC1932(G39), showing ASV scores of 1.66, 1.80, 2.20, 2.60, and 2.84, respectively, were ranked as the most stable and are comparable to the weighted average absolute scores of BLUPs (WAASB) ranking of genotypes. The which–won–where pattern of genotype plus genotype–environment (GGE) interactions suggested that the target environment consists of one mega environment. IG5866(G10), IG5865(G9), IG5884(G14), and IG5862(G7) displayed higher stability, as they were nearer to the origin. The genotypes that exhibited a superior performance in the tested environments can serve as ideal parental lines for heat-stress tolerance breeding programs. The weighted average absolute scores of BLUPs (WAASB) serve as an ideal tool to discern the variations and identify the stable genotype among all methods.

An association mapping panel consisting of 380 genotypes of chickpea was evaluated for three different years, including 2014–2015, 2015–2016 and 2016–2017, for yield-contributing parameters, including the seed number and seed weight. The AMMI analysis presented mainly concentrated on the seed weight and seed number, which are the two most important yield-contributing traits. The genotypes contributed 93.08% of the total variance, while the interaction effect was comparatively low, with 4.1% for the two traits. AMMI biplot analysis identified IG5986, IG5982, ILC6025 and ICCV14307 as desirable genotypes for the seed weight and IG5893, ILC6891 and IG5856 for the seed number. Identifying stable genotypes would help in strategic planning for yield improvement through component trait breeding.

Dry root rot of chickpea caused by Rhizoctonia bataticola is emerging as a serious threat to chickpea production and gaining importance in the changing climatic scenario especially in tropical arid and semiarid region. The disease causes 10–20% yield loss. The objective of the present study was screening and identification of DRR resistant genotypes and to assess the molecular variability among the genotypes showing different response to DRR. Fifty five chickpea genotypes were screened for resistance to dry root rot in sick pots using A1 as susceptible check. The number of days taken to wilting was recorded as a measure of DRR resistance and the genotypes which complete their life cycle by setting seeds were considered as resistant to DRR. Significant difference was observed among the genotypes for number of days taken to wilting which may be attributed to polygenic nature of the trait. The genotypes K 850, KAK 2, H 208, BG 14-4, BG 12- 119 and ICC 14395 were identified as resistant in present study could be used as donors in resistant breeding programme. Based on previous reports, genotypes with differential response to dry root rot (3 resistant and 3 susceptible) were subjected for molecular analysis employing 32 SSR and 13 RAPD markers. However, in the present study only one of them (ICC 14395) was found to be resistant. Two SSR (GSSR106 and TR19) and two RAPD (A05 and A18) markers showed distinct polymorphism between dry root rot resistant and five susceptible genotypes. These markers could be used to investigate possible linkage with dry root rot resistance.