Chickpea production did not progress, in spite, of intensification of agricultural practices. Drought and thermal stresses were the major factors that decreased yield when the crop is generally sown in spring. Nevertheless, winter sowing has opened new opportunities for increasing chickpea production in arid areas. This culture is based on two essential factors: (i) preclude rainfall during the flowering and fruiting period (April/May) after a beneficial one in January and February for a good crop development and (ii) reducing the risk of infection by Ascochyta rabiei (considered as the main pathogen of chickpea) whose development is limited in arid area. The influence of temperature on seeds germination of the four varieties (Ghab4, Neyra, Kasseb and Chetoui) has been evaluated with seven temperatures (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35°C) and the effect of drought stress has been determined with seven water stresses induced by different solution of PEG 4000 (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10 g/L). During germination, the tested varieties presented differential sensitivity to thermal stress. The Chetoui and Ghab4 varieties were more tolerant, to cold temperature, than the other varieties. Osmotic potential induced by PEG 4000 had significant effects on seeds germination. Chetoui and Ghab4 were the best tolerant to drought stress. Therefore, we opted for the Chetoui variety that better meets the conditions of stresses induced by low temperatures and water deficit. This best performing variety must have, throughout their development cycle, been tolerant to environmental stresses; which allows us to obtain early tools for discriminative selection between chickpea genotypes.Keywords: Chickpea, thermal stress, drought stress, germinationAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(17), pp. 2201-220
