The objectives of the project are:
1. To identify chickpea genotypes for improved yields and quantify G x E interactions in water-limited environments.
2. To identify morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics that confer improved adaptation and yields of chickpea for water-limited environments.
3. To develop efficient screening methodologies for promising drought resistance characteristics of chickpea.
4. To train Indian scientists in improved methods of chickpea breeding and physiology.
5. To develop breeding populations to test the usefulness of identified screening methodologies and determine whether molecular technologies can further improve the efficiency of breeding for drought resistance in chickpea.

The collaborating institutes in Australia are the Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA; CSIRO Plant Industry, Perth, WA; Agriculture Western Australia, South Perth and Merredin, WA; South Australian Research and Development Institute, Minnipa Agriculture Centre, Minnipa, SA; Agriculture Victoria, Mallee Research Station, Walpeup, VIC; New South Wales Agriculture, Centre for Crop Improvement, Tamworth, NSW; Department of Primary Industries, Hermitage Research Station, Hermitage, QLD. In India the collaborating institutes are the Indian Institute of Pulses Research (IIPR), Kanpur, U.P.; the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi; CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana; Institute of Pulse and Oilseeds Research, Gulbarga, Karnataka; Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Agricultural University, (JNKVV), Jabalpur. M.P.; R.A.K. College of Agriculture, Sehore, M.P. and the Agricultural Research Station, Durgapura, Jaipur, Rajasthan. The last two institutes were added to the project in 1999.

In 1999/2000, 76 genotypes of chickpea were planted in May/June 1999 at 5 sites in Australia (Merredin, WA; Minnipa, SA; Walpeup, VIC; Tamworth, NSW; and Warwick, QLD) and 43 genotypes of chickpea, common to those in Australia, were planted in October/November 1999 at 7 sites in India (Gulbarga, Jabalpur, Sehore, Durgapura, Hisar, New Delhi, Kanpur) to study the genotype by environment interaction of the genotypes. Additionally, a limited number (6-9) genotypes were planted in Merredin, Hisar, New Delhi and Kanpur under rainfed and irrigated conditions to study various physiological processes associated with drought resistance, e.g., osmotic adjustment, assimilate redistribution, seed growth, root growth, sucrose synthase activity in the seed. In 1998, in the first year of the project and using the same 35 genotypes common to both countries, the yields varied from 0.84 t/ha at Merredin to 2.19t/ha in Kanpur. The results showed that there was considerable G x E interaction with some genotypes showing similar yields at all sites while others responded to the good conditions at the more productive sites. In 1999 in Australia, mean yields of the 76 genotypes varied from 0.35 t/ha at Minnipa to 3.45 t/ha at Warwick. The mean yield of Sona and Amethyst, cultivars widely grown across Australia, was 1.85/1.86 t/ha. Eleven genotpes had yields over 2/t/ha and 2 genotypes, ICCV10 and K850, had mean yields of 2.19 and 2.12 t/ha, respectively, and were stable across environments. The physiological studies showed that BG372, the genotype that gave the highest and most stable yield across India and Australia in 1998, gave the highest yield under rainfed and irrigated conditions at Merredin in1999. The yield advantage was associated with high biomass production and the maintenance of a high harvest index. Over all 9 genotypes, seed yield was associated with a longer period of flowering, a lower water potential during grain filling, a shorter period of pod filling and earlier maturity. The 1999/2000 results from India are still being compiled in India.

During 1999/2000, two partner scientists from India visited Australia for training. Dr Sushil Chaturvedi, the dryland chickpea breeder from IIPR, Kanpur, spent 6 months working with Dr Tanveer Khan, Principal Pulse breeder at Agriculture Western Australia (AGWEST), while Dr Narendra Singh, biotechnologist, from IIPR, Kanpur, spent 4 months at the State Agricultural Biotechnology Center, Murdoch University, Perth. Dr Charurvedi's visit concentrated on modern methods of mechanised plant breeding and data analysis and Dr Singh's visit exposed him to methodologies for development of molecular markers. Additionally, Mr Jens Berger held a course on use of computers, data management and multivariate analysis techniques at IIPR, Kanpur.

The objectives of the project are:
1. To identify chickpea genotypes for improved yields and quantify G x E interactions in water-limited environments.
2. To identify morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics that confer improved adaptation and yields of chickpea for water-limited environments.
3. To develop efficient screening methodologies for promising drought resistance characteristics of chickpea.
4. To train Indian scientists in improved methods of chickpea breeding and physiology.
5. To develop breeding populations to test the usefulness of identified screening methodologies and determine whether molecular technologies can further improve the efficiency of breeding for drought resistance in chickpea.

The collaborating institutes in Australia are the Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA; CSIRO Plant Industry, Perth, WA; Agriculture Western Australia, South Perth and Merredin, WA; South Australian Research and Development Institute, Minnipa Agriculture Centre, Minnipa, SA; Agriculture Victoria, Mallee Research Station, Walpeup, VIC; New South Wales Agriculture, Centre for Crop Improvement, Tamworth, NSW; Department of Primary Industries, Hermitage Research Station, Hermitage, QLD. In India the collaborating institutes are the Indian Institute of Pulses Research (IIPR), Kanpur, U.P.; the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi; CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana; Institute of Pulse and Oilseeds Research, Gulbarga, Karnataka; Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Agricultural University, (JNKVV), Jabalpur. M.P.; R.A.K. College of Agriculture, Sehore, M.P. and the Agricultural Research Station, Durgapura, Jaipur, Rajasthan. The last two institutes were added to the project in 1999.

In 1999/2000, 76 genotypes of chickpea were planted in May/June 1999 at 5 sites in Australia (Merredin, WA; Minnipa, SA; Walpeup, VIC; Tamworth, NSW; and Warwick, QLD) and 43 genotypes of chickpea, common to those in Australia, were planted in October/November 1999 at 7 sites in India (Gulbarga, Jabalpur, Sehore, Durgapura, Hisar, New Delhi, Kanpur) to study the genotype by environment interaction of the genotypes. Additionally, a limited number (6-9) genotypes were planted in Merredin, Hisar, New Delhi and Kanpur under rainfed and irrigated conditions to study various physiological processes associated with drought resistance, e.g., osmotic adjustment, assimilate redistribution, seed growth, root growth, sucrose synthase activity in the seed. In 1998, in the first year of the project and using the same 35 genotypes common to both countries, the yields varied from 0.84 t/ha at Merredin to 2.19t/ha in Kanpur. The results showed that there was considerable G x E interaction with some genotypes showing similar yields at all sites while others responded to the good conditions at the more productive sites. In 1999 in Australia, mean yields of the 76 genotypes varied from 0.35 t/ha at Minnipa to 3.45 t/ha at Warwick. The mean yield of Sona and Amethyst, cultivars widely grown across Australia, was 1.85/1.86 t/ha. Eleven genotpes had yields over 2/t/ha and 2 genotypes, ICCV10 and K850, had mean yields of 2.19 and 2.12 t/ha, respectively, and were stable across environments. The physiological studies showed that BG372, the genotype that gave the highest and most stable yield across India and Australia in 1998, gave the highest yield under rainfed and irrigated conditions at Merredin in1999. The yield advantage was associated with high biomass production and the maintenance of a high harvest index. Over all 9 genotypes, seed yield was associated with a longer period of flowering, a lower water potential during grain filling, a shorter period of pod filling and earlier maturity. The 1999/2000 results from India are still being compiled in India.

During 1999/2000, two partner scientists from India visited Australia for training. Dr Sushil Chaturvedi, the dryland chickpea breeder from IIPR, Kanpur, spent 6 months working with Dr Tanveer Khan, Principal Pulse breeder at Agriculture Western Australia (AGWEST), while Dr Narendra Singh, biotechnologist, from IIPR, Kanpur, spent 4 months at the State Agricultural Biotechnology Center, Murdoch University, Perth. Dr Charurvedi's visit concentrated on modern methods of mechanised plant breeding and data analysis and Dr Singh's visit exposed him to methodologies for development of molecular markers. Additionally, Mr Jens Berger held a course on use of computers, data management and multivariate analysis techniques at IIPR, Kanpur.

The objectives of the project are:
1. To identify chickpea genotypes for improved yields and quantify G x E interactions in water-limited environments.
2. To identify morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics that confer improved adaptation and yields of chickpea for water-limited environments.
3. To develop efficient screening methodologies for promising drought resistance characteristics of chickpea.
4. To train Indian scientists in improved methods of chickpea breeding and physiology.
5. To develop breeding populations to test the usefulness of identified screening methodologies and determine whether molecular technologies can further improve the efficiency of breeding for drought resistance in chickpea.

The collaborating institutes in Australia are the Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA; CSIRO Plant Industry, Perth, WA; Agriculture Western Australia, South Perth and Merredin, WA; South Australian Research and Development Institute, Minnipa Agriculture Centre, Minnipa, SA; Agriculture Victoria, Mallee Research Station, Walpeup, VIC; New South Wales Agriculture, Centre for Crop Improvement, Tamworth, NSW; Department of Primary Industries, Hermitage Research Station, Hermitage, QLD. In India the collaborating institutes are the Indian Institute of Pulses Research (IIPR), Kanpur, U.P.; the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi; CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana; Institute of Pulse and Oilseeds Research, Gulbarga, Karnataka; Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Agricultural University, (JNKVV), Jabalpur. M.P.; R.A.K. College of Agriculture, Sehore, M.P. and the Agricultural Research Station, Durgapura, Jaipur, Rajasthan. The last two institutes were added to the project in 1999.

In 2000/2001, 76 genotypes of chickpea were planted in May/June 2000 at 5 sites in Australia (Merredin, WA; Minnipa, SA; Walpeup, VIC; Tamworth, NSW; and Warwick, QLD) and 43 genotypes of chickpea, common to those in Australia, were planted in October/December 2000 at 7 sites in India (Gulbarga, Jabalpur, Sehore, Durgapura, Hisar, New Delhi, Kanpur) to study the genotype by environment interaction of the genotypes. Additionally, a limited number (6-9) genotypes were planted in Merredin, Hisar, New Delhi and Kanpur under rainfed, rainout shelter and irrigated conditions to study various physiological processes associated with drought resistance, e.g., osmotic adjustment, assimilate redistribution, seed growth, root growth, sucrose synthase activity in the seed. Due to favourable seasons in terms of weather and pathology, 2000/2001 was the first year that all trials were successfully carried out up to the final harvest stage in both India and Australia. The resulting inflow of data made it possible to perform meaningful G x E analyses, revealing substantially different trends across the two countries. In Australia interaction behaviour was driven by two separate groups of high yielding sites (Warwick & Merredin in 1999, Walpeup & Tamworth in 2000) that selected for different genotypes with different attributes. Note that in the Australian context, low yielding sites appeared to contribute little to interaction behaviour. In India site productivity and interaction were closely linked (r=0.88): high yielding genotypes performed better at productive sites and vice versa. Site productivity appeared to be closely related to latitude in India. Successful genotypes at unproductive, early, southern sites were characterized by early phenology with short post-anthesis, resulting in lower pod abortion and higher yield. Conversely, successful genotypes at productive, late, northern sites were characterized by late phenology with long vegetative growth, resulting in increased plant biomass, branching, podding with lower abortion and higher yield. Clearly the dynamic nature of the phenological response plays a large role in chickpea productivity in India. AMMI analysis of maturity dates indicates that under Indian conditions there may be two opposing forces driving phenology: day length and temperature responsiveness. Early types in Gulbarga seem to extremely early due to temperature responsiveness, while late types in Hisar are brought back a little by day length responsiveness.

Key achievements:

1. A planning meeting of all the Indian collaborators was held in New Delhi in September 2000 to plan the experimental protocols for the 2000/2001 growing season. All sites in Australia were visited in October 2000 and in India in February/March 2001.
2. The G x E trial was successfully harvested at 5 Australian, and 7 Indian sites. This is the first year that data has been forthcoming from all sites. Previously there were always some trials that had to be abandoned due to severe, confounding disease outbreaks.
3. Preliminary analysis of G x E was carried out for 2 years of: a) Australian data (71 genotypes, 9 sites), b) Indian data (39 genotypes, 10 sites), and c) Indo-Australian data (41 genotypes, 20 sites).
4. Major trends revealed by AMMI analysis (Additive Main Effects, Multiplicative Interaction) as follows: a) interaction behaviour in 2 years of Australian trials was dominated by the more productive sites. Warwick 99 (site mean yield 3.5 t/ha), and to a lesser extent Merredin 99 (2.1 t/ha) were productive sites for ICC 12952, BG 372, BG 362. These genotypes did not do particularly well at Tamworth (2.1 t/ha) and Walpeup (2.0 t/ha) in 2000, where IPC 92-1, BG 369, BG 365 were more successful. In other words these two groups of productive site were selecting for genotypes with different attributes. The low yielding sites (<1 t/ha: Merr 00, Min 99, Min 00) contributed little to interaction behaviour in the Australian context.
5. Among Indian sites productivity & interaction are closely linked (r=0.88): high yielding genotypes perform better at productive sites & vice versa. Successful genotypes at unproductive, early, southern sites: early phenology with short post-anthesis, resulting in lower pod abortion & higher yield. Successful genotypes at productive, late, northern sites: late phenology with long vegetative growth, resulting in increased plant biomass, branching, podding with lower abortion & higher yield. AMMI analysis of maturity dates indicates that under Indian conditions there may be two opposing forces driving phenology: day length and temperature responsiveness. Early types in Gulbarga seem to extremely early due to temperature responsiveness, while late types in Hisar are brought back a little by day length responsiveness. This should be followed up with a controlled experiment carried out at CSIRO in the extension phase.
6. When Indian & Australian sites are combined, interaction is dichotomous: high yielding sites in Australia select for different genotypes than those in India. Unproductive, highly stressed sites in either country contribute little to interaction behaviour. Genotype interaction behaviour is linked to productivity to some extent (r=0.55): productive genotypes respond to improved environments in India, but not in Australia.
7. The hand planted physiology trial (n=12) had to be abandoned due to the effect of Ascochyta blight. As an alternative, physiology studies were carried out on a subset of 23 genotypes selected from the G x E trial. Principal components analysis revealed that seed yield was associated with peak leaf & stem wt and their respective rates of growth, biomass & seed yield/plant at maturity, pod weight & number and their respective rates of growth rate. Seed yield was also positively associated with the rate biomass loss from leaves & stems after peak biomass production.
8. Dr (Mrs) Sunita Kumari, Dr Raj Pannu and Dr P.S. Dharmaraj successfully completed training programs in Australia for 6, 3 and 0.75 months, respectively.
9. The project was comprehensively reviewed in both Australia and India.

Objectives for the extended project are:

1. Analyse G x E interaction across 26 Indo-Australian site years incorporating biological and physical descriptions of trial sites.
2. Consolidate results from physiological trials conducted at Merredin, WA, and 3 Indian locations.
3. Conduct training on "Strategies for optimising G x E studies in breeding programs"
4. Develop and field test recombinant inbred lines contrasting in traits putatively associated with drought resistance

Progress during 2001-02 was as follows:

1. The design of the extension of the project was completed during the reporting year. This involved bringing over Dr. Colin Piggin from Canberra, and Drs. N. B. Singh and Masood Ali from New Delhi and Kanpur, respectively, for two days of robust discussion at the Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture (CLIMA), University of Western Australia, with Professors Neil Turner and Kadambot Siddique, and Dr. Jens Berger. The meeting was summarized in a workplan for the next three years, which was subsequently signed off by both the University of Western Australia (CLIMA) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.
2. A meeting was held in Jaipur, India, to consolidate the physiological research carried out in the project. This involved bringing together breeders and physiologists from all centres that had run physiology trials in India, namely, the Indian Institute of Pulses Research (IIPR) in Kanpur, Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. The results were discussed in detail, and experiments pulled apart. Unreliable datasets were highlighted, as were those that did not receive sufficient stress to be included in a drought study. This meeting sets a base from which the physiology work can be thoroughly analysed and written up.
3. All the trial and climatic data from the collaborating institutions in India (7 sites) and Australia (5 sites) has continued to be collated in Perth. The last outstanding data file was received in late July 2002, and the analysis of the G x E trials as a whole has commenced.
4. A comprehensive manual on the design, recording, analysis and presentation of quantitative data using modern PC-based techniques is in the process of preparation. Two training courses were planned to be run in September 2001, one in south India at ICRISAT, Hyderabad, and one in north India at IIPR, Kanpur, for about 30 total participants from a number of ACIAR projects in India. The training courses have had to be rescheduled due to security concerns in India. An important spin-off from the manual is the analysis of G x E. This is a major component of the course, and part of the preparation has been the analysis of data from the project using a wide variety of analytical techniques. By test running these analyses on the data from the project, we are checking the suitability of the datasets for use in the course, and simultaneously getting a better understanding of G x E interaction in the data collected in the project.
5. The meeting in Jaipur, India, highlighted the need for a further physiological experiment to be conducted in 2002-2003 at IIPR, Kanpur. This has been designed ready for commencement in October/November 2002.
6. Genotypes differing in osmotic adjustment and assimilate transfer have been crossed and are being fast-tracked through to the F6 generation in the glasshouse in Perth. These will be sent to India in 2003 for quarantine and multiplication for evaluation at four sites in India in 2003-2004 or 2004-2005.

Major activities conducted in the reporting year were:

Dr Jens Berger and Ms Jane Speijers conducted three ACIAR-sponsored training courses entitled 'An Introduction to Modern PC-based Data Handling and Statistical Methods' in (i) Lumle in Nepal, (ii) at ICRISAT in Hyderabad, India and (iii) at the Indian Institute of Pulses Research in Kanpur, India in March-April 2003. A total of 51 scientists were exposed to a comprehensive training package covering the major issues in quantitative experimental agricultural research. The courses covered a wide range of topics over eight days, from experimental design, recording/handling data, univariate and multivariate analysis, genotype by environment analysis, and presentation of results. The participants, which included aquatic ecologists, soil scientists, horticulturists, agronomists, physiologists, pathologists, statisticians, plant and animal breeders, were associated with a number of ACIAR projects in India and Nepal. The courses were received with great enthusiasm, and generated interesting discussion on research and research methodologies.

In Australia, recombinant inbred lines developed for three traits considered to give improved chickpea yields and quality in drought-prone environments, namely high osmotic adjustment, large assimilate remobilisation to the grain and high sucrose synthase activity in the seed, were progressed in the glasshouse to the F7 stage for osmotic adjustment and sucrose synthase and the F5 stage for assimilate remobilization. The 25 families differing in osmotic adjustment and sucrose synthase at the F7 stage were sown in the field at the Dryland Research Institute at Merredin in Western Australia so that they could be covered with a rainout shelter during pod filling for evaluation of the degree of variation in osmotic adjustment and sucrose synthase activity and preliminary evaluation of the effects of these traits on seed yield and seed size. Seeds were also transferred to India for multiplication at a site in Karnataka for planting at the Indian Institute of pulses Research in Kanpur in October/November 2003.

In addition, a field study was conducted at the Indian Institute of Pulses Research in Kanpur in which the influence of osmotic adjustment and assimilate remobilisation was evaluated in up to 20 lines comprising early, intermediate and late material and putative differences in drought resistance. The influence of these traits on yield was also evaluated. The results of this study are still being analysed.

Dr Neil C. Turner, Overall Project Coordinator, visited the Indian Institute of Pulses Research in Kanpur for a planning meeting with Dr Masood Ali and project cooperators on 2-3 December 2002 and accompanied Dr K.H.M. Siddique, Research Coordinator, to the Indian Institute of Pulses Research on 10 January 2003 to visit the physiology experiment being conducted at two sites near Kanpur. Additionally, Dr Turner visited the Indian Institute of Pulses Research for a planning meeting on 6-7 June 2003 in conjunction with an invited Lead Lecture at the Summer School on 'Management of Pulses under Drought Conditions.'

Year 6 (01/07/2003-30/06/2004)
In Australia, recombinant inbred lines have been developed for three traits considered to give improved chickpea yields and quality in drought-prone environments:
high osmotic adjustment
large assimilate remobilisation to the grain
high sucrose synthase activity in the seed.
In 2003 the lines differing in assimilate transfer were progressed in glasshouses. Twenty-five families differing in osmotic adjustment and sucrose synthase were sown in the field at the Dryland Research Institute at Merredin in Western Australia. These were covered with a rainout shelter during pod filling for evaluation of the degree of variation in osmotic adjustment and sucrose synthase activity. Preliminary evaluation will be done on the effects of these traits on seed yield and seed size. The results from 2003 showed that there was considerable variation in osmotic adjustment among these lines. Three lines with a high degree of osmotic adjustment and three with a low degree of osmotic adjustment have been selected for measurement and evaluation of yields under water-limited conditions in 2004-05 in Australia and India. The lines also varied in their seed size, and lines with similar phenology.
In 2004, seeds of the lines differing in osmotic adjustment that were to be grown in Australia were also transferred to India for multiplication and distribution to the Indian partners. It was agreed at the annual planning meeting held at the Indian Institute of Pulses Research that the lines will be grown under rainfed conditions in Gulbarga, Sehore, Jaipur and Kanpur in 2004-05. The influence of osmotic adjustment on yield under rainfed conditions in India will be evaluated. The degree of osmotic adjustment will also be evaluated at the site at Kanpur.