Selection of Chickpea (<scp><i>Cicer arietinum</i></scp> L.) Genotypes Through a Combining of Tolerance Indices and Root Architecture: An Efficient Approach for the Identification of Drought‐Tolerant Genotypes

ABSTRACT Chickpea is generally grown on marginal soils around the world, where it depends mainly on residual moisture. The recurrent scarcity of rainfall hampers production and reduces grain yields. In the face of this changing climate, genotypes with well‐developed root systems might contribute to stabilization of yield under drought conditions. So the fundamental aim of our study is to combine yield production performance with the attributes of a prolific root system in order to identify drought‐tolerant genotypes. Thus, a large collection of chickpeas (Desi and Kabuli) was evaluated following an augmented randomized complete block design (RCBD) in three trials: two in contrasting environments to assess grain yield and its components and one in the greenhouse to explore root architecture. The three indices, namely, stress tolerance index (STI), geometric mean productivity (GMP) and mean productivity (MP), are best suited to selecting tolerant genotypes. With their high heritability and genetic advance, traits such as plant height, number of pods/seeds, surface area, diameter and seed perimeter should be given particular attention by breeders under both normal rainfall and drought conditions. In addition, significant positive correlations were found between grain yield under stress and root length and number of lateral roots. The combination of salient results from the three trials led to the identification of 15 promising genotypes based on grain yield, phenology and root proliferation. In the face of increasing drought, this research not only makes these promising genotypes available for use in crossbreeding blocks and directly in the field but also provides important information for identifying genotypes resilient to drought‐stress regions.