Intl crop institute decodes 90 chickpea genomes for the first time

Would help develop drought-resistant, disease-proof chickpea varieties

From now consumers in India and also in other places could have a choice of different varieties of chickpea (chana dal) as a team of global scientists lead by International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has for the first time decoded not one but 90-odd genome sequences of chickpeas.

This, the scientists said would enable researchers to develop drought-resistant, disease-proof chickpea varieties and even help in developing chickpeas with more nutritional values.  

The research project team had 49 scientists from 23 organizations in 10 countries, including ICAR from India. The global research partnership succeeded in identifying-28,269 genes of kabuli chana and re-sequencing of additional 90 chickpea types provided millions of genetic markers.

The achievement was even recognised globally, and ‘Nature Biotechnology’, the highest ranked journal in the area of biotechnology, has featured the research in its latest issue. Chickpea or gram is the second largest pulse crop in the world, grown in about 11.5 million hectares.

It is grown mostly by poor farmers and on dry areas. It is highly nutritious. While India is the largest producer (also importer and consumer) of chickpea, it is also grown in a number of African countries including Ethiopia, Tanzania and Kenya.