Marching towards self-sufficiency in chickpea

Chickpea is a major pulse crop of India accounting for more than 40% of the total pulses area and production. From a mere 3.86 million tonnes (mt) during 2000-01, chickpea production rose steadily to an all-time high of 11.23 mt during 2017-18. The central and southern states such as Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand have benefited most from chickpea revolution in the country, with remarkable increase in both area and production. This has been achieved through development of suitable technologies like high-yielding varieties along with matching production and protection technologies, quality seed producing units, etc. To attain self-sufficiency by 2050, the total pulse production in the country needs to reach 39 mt. This includes chickpea requirement of about 16-17.5 mt by 2050 from an area of about 10.5 m ha with average productivity of 15-17 q/ha. The potential yield observed in AICRP (Chickpea) trials has increased from 10 to 17.50 q/ha during the past 20 years (CAGR = 1.51%). At this rate, the increased chickpea requirement can be easily achieved by 2050, provided there is proper policy backstopping. Here we review chickpea research in India during the last five decades and future research priorities to tackle newer challenges.