I - --ii

Excessive postharvest losses.
Postharvest mishandling may cause seed losses to reach 20%.
Ascochyta Blight
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Although present in Lebanon, ascochyta blight is not a serious problem on spring
chickpeas. In the major chickpea-gro wing area, the Beqa'a Valley, low relative
humidity during the spring season does not favor the occurrence and spread of
the disease. Lebanese local cultivars tested by ICARDA in the Terbol Research
Station were highly susceptible to ascochyta blight. This may be the main reason
for not growing chickpeas as a winter crop since most Lebanese local cultivars
are fairly tolerant to the cold weather prevailing in the valley during the winter
season.
A detailed study on faba bean, chickpea and lentil seed health testing by Khan
(1979) at the American University of Beirut was made on 15 seed samples
collected from six different areas in Lebanon. The study showed that -scochyta
blight was not found on any of the chickpea sarnples. However, Ascochyta spp.
isolates were found on faba beans (Vicia faba) and lentils (Lens culinaris). In
faba beans, the incidence was 40, 5, and 5% on seed coat, embryo and cotyledons,
respectively.
Winter Sowing
Winter chickpeas have a great potential in Lebanon considering the expected
increase in yield level due to the extension of the growing season and the elimination
or minimization of the moisture stress during flowering and pod filling. In
light of the insufficient local production to satisfy market demand and high
prices of chickpea, more hectarage will be converted to chickpeas if they are
sown in winter. The magnitude of this change will depend to a great extent on the
improvement made to eliminate or minimize the other constraints of production
mentioned earlier. However, priorities should be given to mechanize planting and
harvesting, weed control, fertilization and better seedbed preparation.
In cooperation bewtween ICARDA and the Faculty of Agricultural and Food
Sciences, American University of Beirut (FAFS-AUB), work on winter sowing of
chickpeas in Lebanon is already under way at Terbol Research Station and at the
Agricultural Research and Education Center (AREC) of the American University
of Beirut. Lebanese local cultivars are being compared with two promising
kabuli chickpea accessions (ILC 482 and 484) in large replicated plots at the
AREC. These accessions are high yielding, resistant to ascochyta blight and cold
tolerant. In addition, a winter chickpea trial (CIYT-W) is being evaluated this