I - --ii

Table 3
Screening chickpea lines for tolerance to cold at Hymana, Turkey, during 1979-80.
Rating No. of entries % of entries
I 4 0.13
2 2 0.06
3 23 0.73
4 283 8.96
5 2846 90.12
Total 3158 100.00
ate elevations in the continental Mediterranean environment. The results of
screening at Hymana have been published earlier (Singh et al. 1981).
The results of cold tolerance screening at Tel Hadya and Terbol, which represent
a fairly wide range of thermal regimes for the lowland zone are very
interesting. They reveal that the cold conditions of winter months in the lowland
zone can be tolerated by "he majority of the accessions, and therefore these cold
conditions of the region are no b. -rier to the introduction of chickpeas as winterplanted
crop.
At the intermediate elevations, i.e. towards the plateau zone, where the cold is
more scvere, the tolerance of most of the lines was rather poor. Only four lines
could tolrate the severe winter conditions at Hymana, and even those showed
death of some tissues and other symptoms of cold injury. However, the fact that
there were lines, albeit few, that did survive indiates that chickpea cultivars
could be developed for winter planting in Turkey, Iran, northern Iraq and similar
areas of intermediate to high elevation in the region.
Of the 24 genotypes that showed 1,2 and 3 ratings in the evaluation at Hymana,
15 originated from India (Tab. 4). The tolerance to severe cold in lines
originating from India is rather difficult to explain, as the winters in these
chickpea growing areas are seldom severe. However, since desi types are predominately
grown in India, there is a possibility that more sources of tolerance to
cold might be available in desi germplasm. It would, therefore, be worthwhile to
evaluate the desi germplasm maintained at ICRISAT for tolerance to cold.
The cold-tolerant lines were again sown at Hymana during 1980-81 season for
confirmation of their toierance. These lines are also being simultaneously used in
the crossing program. Physiological studies on the mechanism of tolerance will
be taken up in lines in which the tolerance is confirmed.
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