Early ripening and morphometric features of chickpea germplasm in the conditions of the Lower Don

The results of the study of chickpea germplasm by the duration of the vegetation period and the values of morphometric features are presented. Field experiments were launched in 2019–2021. The mission of the research was to study chickpea germplasm by the duration of vegetation period and morphometric features and to identify genotypes that are prospective for implementation in the breeding process as parental forms. The research material included 28 chickpea genotypes. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the identification of adapted to the conditions of the Lower Don region, early ripening productive chickpea genotypes with a wide range of variation by basic morphometric features. As the result of the study, early ripening genotypes were found: Zavolzhsky (84.7 days), Avatar (85.3 days), Volgogradsky10 (85.8 days), Volzhanin 50 (87.0 days), a6 (87.0 days), and Privo 1 (87.2 days). The variation of the collection samples in terms of plant height is within the range of 38.9...54.2 cm. The large-grained samples with the shortest stem were a3 (38.9 cm) and a1 (39.0 cm), the long-stemmed genotypes were Donplaza (54.2 cm), Krasnokutsky 123 (52.5 cm) and Sharik (51.3 cm). The varieties Donplaza (34.7 cm), Krasnokutskiy 123 (33.7 cm), Sokol (33.7 cm) and Sharik (33.0 cm) were characterized by their good adaptability to harvesting by combine due to the high location of the lower beans on stem. By the straw weight per one plant the maximum values were in samples Krasnokutsky 123 (10.9 g), Vektor (10.5 g), Zavolzhsky (10.4 g) and Krasnokutsky 36 (10.3 g), the minimum values were in samples Volzhanin 50 (5.7 g), a2 (6.5 g), a3 (7.1 g), a6 (7.2 g) and Privo 1 (7.2 g). By the harvesting index a8 (55.6%), Avatar (53.9%), Bonus (53.7%), Volzhanin 50 (53.5%) and a3 (53.3%) took a lead, the lowest values were in genotypes Krasnokutskiy 28 (38.2%), Donplaza (40.5%), Sokol (40.6%) and a4 (42.3%). The correlation dependences of these features were presented with the weight of grain per one plant. The characteristics of the morphometric features for ten samples with the highest grain weight per one plant were given. The prospects of focusing on the harvest index in the system for assessing the germplasm and breeding material of chickpeas in the conditions of the Lower Don were indicated.