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Proceedingsof the Workshop on Ascochyta Blight and Winter Sowing ofChickpeas (Saxena, M.C
and Singh. K.B., eds.). ICARDA, 4-7 May 1981. Aleppo. Syria
Fourth Session: Country Reports
Status of Chickpea in the ICARDA Region
M.C. SAXENA and K.B. SINGH*
*Agronomist/Physiologist, ICARDA, Aleppo, Syria,
Plant Breeder (ICRISAT), ICARDA, Aleppo, Syria.
A joint contribution from ICARDA and ICRISAT Centers.
The center of origin of chickpea was suggesttd by de Condolle (1882) to lie
between Greece and the Himalayas and between Krim and Ethiopia. Vavilov
(1926) considered Hindustan and the Mediterranean region as the centers of
origin. The range of the area where the possible center of origin of chickpea
might lie was much narrowed down by van der Maesen (1972) who suggested
that this species originated in southern Caucasus and northern Persia. More
recently, Ladzinsky and Adler (1976) produced evidek;ce in favor of southeastern
Turkey o be the center or origin and it is believed that from there this
species spread at an early date to the countries in the Mediterranean region and
the Indian subcontinent. Introduction to tropical Africa, Latin America, North
America and Australia seems to have occurred more recently.
Thus, from the point of view of origin and spread of chickpeas, ICARDA
region is of great significance.
Production
The average world production of chickpeas stands at 6.75 million metric tonnes
(nit) for the period 1976-80 (Tab. 1). When compared with the corresponding
values for 1948-52 (5.39 million mt), this amotmnts to an increase of 25.3%. Most
of this increase has come from increased productivity as the increase in area has
been very small.
ICARDA region accounts for about 15% of total area and about 13% of total
production of chickpeas in the world (Tab. 1). Amongst the various food legumes
grown in ICARDA region, chickpeas rank first (Hamawi, 1979). They accounted
for 30.1% of total food legume production in the region during the period
1971-75. They are followed by faba beans (23.1%), lentils (11.8%), and dry beans
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