Morphological Description of Chickpea (Cicer arietanum L) Genotypes Using DUS Characterization

The cultivated chickpea (Cicer arietinum) holds great importance as a pulse crop in India. The identification and classification of diverse genotypes are crucial for implementing effective strategies to improve this crop. This study was conducted to get a comprehensive morphological characterization of desi chickpea genotypes using the DUS (Distinctness, Uniformity, and Stability) descriptors suggested by the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmer's Rights Authority, Government of India, in 2018. Environmental conditions, such as temperature, light, humidity, and nutrient availability, can influence plant variability. Different environments impose selective pressures on plants resulting in variability within plant populations. The objective of the investigation was to identify and classify diverse chickpea genotypes based on 17 different qualitative traits observed in a field experiment. Among the 17 DUS traits only one trait exhibited a consistent phenotype (monomorphic), six traits displayed two distinct phenotypes (dimorphic), nine traits exhibited three distinct phenotypes (trimorphic), and only one trait showed more than three phenotypic variations (polymorphic) among all the chickpea genotypes studied. This indicates the presence of significant genetic variability within the chickpea germplasm, offering the potential for assigning different morphological profiles for varietal identification and characterization. In particular, for features like seed and foliar colour, pod size, leaflet size, and seed shape, it was found that a high level of diversity within the chickpea germplasm using Shannon's diversity indices. The characterization of these genotypes enabled the development of distinct profiles for each line, facilitating their identification and evaluation as elite chickpea lines.