International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics
Abstract
This paper reports the production of hybrid plants between C. arietinum and C. bijugum in vitro and the transfer of hybrid plants to soil. Four chickpea cultivars, ICCV 92318, ICCV 2, ICCV 10 and KAK 2, were used as female parents. The wild species C. bijugum (accession ILWC 73) from germplasm collection at the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, Aleppo, Syria, was used as male parent. Seeds of cultivated and wild chickpea were sown in the glasshouse and in the field in Andhra Pradesh, India. Crosses were carried out from October 2001 to February 2005 (4 postrainy seasons) in the field. Formation of viable green hybrid plants from the cross C. arietinum and C. bijugum with intermediate morphology between the two parents show that it is possible to obtain hybrid plants between C. arietinum and C. bijugum and that concerted efforts will yield hybrids in large numbers. Our study confirms that it is possible to cross C. bijugum with cultivated chickpea, and it would be feasible to produce a large number of hybrids to exploit the genes/traits present in C. bijugum for the improvement of cultivated species
