Registration of 'Teji', a Kabuli Chickpea

Abstract

The chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) cultivar ‘Teji’ (Reg. No. CV-277, PI 643437) was developed by the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Aleppo, Syria. It was released for general cultivation in Ethiopia in 2005 by the National Chickpea Research Project, Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Center. Teji, a selection from ‘FLIP 97-266C’, was developed from a cross FLIP 87-58C/UC15 made in 1993–1994 at ICARDA headquarters in Tel Hadya in northern Syria (36.01° N, 36.56o E, 284 m above sea level). One of the parents, FLIP 87-58C was derived from a cross ILC 3777/FLIP 83-46C made in 1985. Similarly, FLIP 83-46C was developed at ICARDA from the cross ILC 72/ILC 215 made in 1980. The F1 generation of cross FLIP 87-58C/UC15 was advanced in Terbol, in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon (33.49° N, 35.59o E, 890 m above sea level) in the 1994 off-season, June to October. The F2 seeds obtained from Terbol were planted in a wilt-infected plot at Tel Hadya during the 1994–1995 season, to screen for resistance to Fusarium wilt [caused by Fusarium oxysporum Schlechtend.:Fr. f. sp. ciceris (Padwick)]. Resistant plants were selected and grown in plant progeny rows for advancement to F3, at Terbol in the 1995 off-season. Seed from individual plant progenies was harvested separately and planted in a wilt-infected plot at Tel Hadya during the 1995–1996 season. Resistant plants from these progenies were selected and grown in a wilt-infected plot the following season as progeny rows in F5. Agronomically uniform progenies with tolerance to Fusarium wilt (rating of 3 on a 1–9 scale where 1 = no disease, 9 = killed by disease) were selected and bulked in F5 during the 1996–1997 season. In the 1997–1998 season, these bulked lines were evaluated for seed yield and other agronomic traits in preliminary yield trials at Tel Hadya. Agronomically superior and uniform progenies were assigned FLIP 97 (Food Legume Improvement Program 1997) numbers; these included FLIP 97-266C, later named Teji. These lines were shared with the Ethiopian national research program in 1998, in the form of ICARDA’s Chickpea International Elite Nursery-Southerly Latitudes-2-1999 (CIEN-SL2-99). In 20 trials conducted in Ethiopia over a period of 3 yr, Teji gave the highest seed yield (2747 kg ha−1), 1.5% more than the improved check ‘Arerti’ and 28% more than the local check ‘DZ-10-4’. Teji is large-seeded (100-seed weight 38.1 g), with ram-head shaped Kabuli-type seeds. It has compound leaves, fl owers in 54 d, and is semi-erect in growth habit (plant height 39.8 cm). Under Ethiopian conditions, Teji exhibited resistance to Ascochyta blight [caused by Ascochyta rabiei (Passerini) Labrousse] and Fusarium wilt, with a rating of 4 for each disease (on 1–9 scale, where 1 = free from disease, 9 = killed by disease). Traders have expressed a preference for the variety because of its large, beige-colored Kabuli-type seeds. Teji is recommended for mid- to high-altitude areas (1800– 2600 m) in submoist agro-ecological zones. Seed is maintained at Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Center, Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), at Debre Zeit, Ethiopia; and by ICARDA. Small quantities of seed can be obtained from EIAR or ICARDA on written request. After fi ve years from the date of this registration article, seed can also be obtained from the USDA National Plant Germplasm System. Recipients are requested to acknowledge the source if the material is used for any research purposes.