Screening and evaluation of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) genotypes for salinity stress tolerance: A biochemical, physiological and yield assessment

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), an important legume crop extensively cultivated across India, is adversely affected by a range of biotic and abiotic stresses, with soil salinity being a major factor that significantly reduces its productivity. Among several alternatives available for salinity management developing tolerant cultivars is the judicious and sustainable approach. The present investigation was undertaken to screen 20 chickpea genotypes in pots, under controlled conditions by treating with 60 mM & 120 mM NaCl concentration in split doses at sowing and 15 days to sowing (DAS). Observation on various physiological, biochemical and alternation in yield contributing parameters were recorded during the pod initiation stage and used for statistical analysis i.e. correlation and path analysis. All the traits show significant variation at both 1 % and 5 % level of significance. Results revealed that there was a significant decrease in total chlorophyll and relative water content in susceptible genotypes (ICC 249 & ICC 247) while salt tolerant genotypes (ICC 5439 & GNG 1581) showed significantly lower reduction in these traits. A significant increase was observed in lipid peroxidation and proline content while non- significant increase in protein content in tolerant genotypes as compared to sensitive genotypes. The results showed that the total proline content increased due to the production of stress-related proteins during salinity stress. Based on the results of the study, ICC5439 and GNG 1581 are highly tolerant chickpea genotypes under salinity stress conditions. ICC 6050, ICC 251, ICC 252 and ICC 262 are medium- tolerant genotypes, while ICC253, ICC 247 and ICC 249 are highly susceptible genotypes. The remaining are minimum tolerant and sensitive genotypes. The study further revealed significant direct associations among traits, emphasizing the feasibility of effective selection for improving chickpea characteristics. The findings offer valuable insights into the tolerant genotypes, guiding future breeding and selection programs.