Rapid generation advance in chickpea for accelerated breeding gain in Ethiopia: What speed breeding imply?

Abstract

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is grown in a wide range of environments and cropping systems and its maturity ranges from 80 to 180 days. Time-saving breeding is key to responding to the dynamics of demands and environmental changes. The study employed the Single Seed Descent (SSD) technique in advancing the generation, supported by the independent observation of chickpea seed germination and seedling establishment in the seed lab. The filial generation nursery was derived from 46 initial crosses with the aim of enhancing drought and yield response of otherwise commercial 10 cultivars. Between 5 December 2017 and 20 December 2018 we were able to obtain four rounds of working chickpea seeds (F2-F5) using two research locations. The average time required to obtain early matured pods varied from 80 to 85 days. Harvesting four generations in an annual cycle enables a saving of at least 50% time in variety release, which has the potential to double the rate of genetic gain and variety replacement. As long as measures are taken to reduce risk associated with extreme weather events or animal damage, this low-cost rapid cycling approach could be adapted for large-scale breeding programs to fast track the development of more productive varieties.