Yield Component Analysis of the USDA Chickpea Core.

The USDA chickpea core collection is comprised of 505 accessions from collected and donated lines from 50 countries selected to represent the genetic diversity in cultivated chickpea, Cicer arietinum. Phenotypic characterization is essential to maximize the utilization of the germplasm. This core collection was grown in two environments in a randomized complete block design, plus a check cultivar used for spatial analysis of field trends in the large field plot experiments. Plants were sub-sampled from plots before harvest to assess plant height, nodes and yield components such as seed/pod and pod/node. At harvest, total harvest weight, total seed weight and 100 seed weight were measured. Each measurement was analysed by fitting a mixed model, fitted with residual maximum likelihood (REML). Results for 2006 and 2007 are presented here with the highest yielding accessions identified.