Genotypes with high stem reserve mobilization can overcome the impact of rust on chickpea yield

Chickpea is one of the major pulse crops cultivated worldwide. It is affected by many fungal diseases including rust caused by the fungus Uromyces ciceris arietini . Its severity is mainly observed during the flowering and pod development stage and this causes considerable yield losses. The present investigation was carried out at ICAR-NIASM, Baramati during 2021–2022 to assess genotypic variation in stem reserve mobilization (SRM) and its influence on loss of grain yield due to rust infection on the basis of severity of rust, seed yield and test weight. The SRM was strongly correlated (R 2 = 0.96) with yield irrespective of the severity of rust infection. Phule Vikram, a local chickpea genotype, recorded the highest grain yield (1506.6 kg/ha) and SRM (23.65 mg/g stem dry weight) while the lowest yield was recorded in Pusa Green 112 (476.7 kg/ha), a susceptible, genotype that had less SRM (3.44 mg/g stem dry weight) and partially filled grain. The results indicated that SRM has a major role in ensuring pod filling even under rust infection. Hence, it is suggested that the emphasis should be on SRM as a trait for selecting early generation breeding lines in the chickpea improvement program with precaution to reduce a penalty if any in terms of attracting pests by increased access to soluble sugars in high SRM genotypes.