DPIRD scientists tackle soil acidity and aluminium toxicity to expand chickpea production
Project name
Accelerating the development of chickpea with enhanced acid soil tolerance
GRDC code
DAW2205-004RTX
A costly burden to manage
With Grains Research and Development Corporation support, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) genetics researchers are looking into a problem that’s encountered in farming land over the world, which is soil acidity and aluminum toxicity.
More than 50 per cent of all arable land experiences some level of aluminum toxicity.
Current solutions for growers like liming are costly, so researchers are pursuing another approach: harnessing genetics.
However, chickpeas are the most sensitive of the pulses to acid soils, and the original breeding programs were based on a limited genetic diversity.
These issues are being resolved by DPIRD researchers who are now accessing more diverse chickpea lines and developing genetic knowledge and tools.
By developing chickpea varieties naturally resilient to acidity, they aim to create more robust, elite chickpea varieties to expand the production area of the crop.
Soil acidity impacts around 75 per cent of all farming land throughout WA and can worsen with increased nitrogen input and climate change.
When pH levels in soil drop below 5.5, aluminium ions become soluble and can become toxic to plants stunting plant growth and reducing yields.
It is a costly problem and difficult to manage, but more tolerant plant varieties may herald a solution.
While Australia is the second largest exporter of chickpeas behind India, it is yet to reach its full production potential due to chickpea’s intolerance to acidic soils and aluminium toxicity which impedes its area of expansion.
Scientists from DPIRD and Murdoch University are striving to expand the area of production into non-traditional regions and provide additional high value pulse options for growers.
Trial studies conducted
The objective of this study was to advance the development of acid soil tolerant chickpeas by identifying germplasm with greater tolerance using screening technologies identified in previous projects.
The team have been leveraging germplasm collected in another GRDC supported project with the University of Davis, California, led by Dr Doug Cook.
The aim of the project was to:
1. Multiply 1,800 chickpea lines including domesticated and wild lines for acid soil tolerance.
2. Validate lines through hydroponic screening.
3. Genotype these lines for future genetic exploitation using a multi-species chip developed by Agriculture Victoria Research.
4. Analyse data and identify lines for a genetic training population to aid future genomic assisted selection.
A high throughput hydroponic screening system was established, enabling large numbers to be screened within a short period of time. Samples were genotyped by project collaborators, Agri Vic, and genome wide association studies (GWAS) were conducted.
GWAS identified three Quantitative Trait Locus (QTL’s) associated with aluminium toxicity tolerance within the chickpea genome. One QTL in particular was identified in both hydroponic and soil screening experiments. Based on aluminium tolerance ratings, 500 lines were selected for future studies.
Field validation
Researchers are now taking the lines identified as tolerant to field trials to evaluate their performance in more complex environments.
Further research will include:
- Identifying confirmed sources of inherent tolerance.
- Bulking up seed for future research
- Fine tuning phenotyping methodology under lab/glasshouse conditions
- Developing genetic (genomic) information that chickpea pre-breeders and breeders will use in developing varieties that would sustain yield potential of new chickpea varieties on acidic soils.
Contact
Sharon Westcott
DPIRD Research Officer
E: Sharon.Westcott@dpird.wa.gov.au