Recipe for chickpea success in Tropical Legumes I (TLI) - Part 3 of 4: Impacts
Channel: GCProgramme
Date: 22/06/2012

GCP TV's 'recipe for chickpea success' results in the dish of the day 'impacts', as recommended by genomics super chefs, Rajeev K Varshney, Paul Kimurto and Asnake Fikre. 

This dish has been some years in preparation, starting out as an 'orphan' legume crop with little hope of molecular breeding, but after slow and careful curing, genomics resources were developed for use by breeders. In the next step, these lines are proving to be superior in drought tolerance and yield at multilocation field trials in Africa and India, so hopes are high for these lines to 'leave the kitchen' in the next 1--2 years, as varieties released to farmers. 

Our main course will offer a rich mixture of impacts, from food security to improved livelihoods, including better education and housing, and even improved soil health -- as chickpea is a nitrogen-fixer meaning the farmer uses less fertiliser...among other benefits.

From an orphan's meal of gruel, chickpea has been transformed into a feast fit for a king. "More please?"

Impact in Ethiopia: http://blog.generationcp.org/2012/06/30/chickpeas-research-in-ethiopia-a-major-boost-for-food-security/
Impact in Kenya: http://blog.generationcp.org/2012/06/30/chickpea-research-in-kenya-a-boon-for-the-fallow-period/
Facts and figures on chickpeas: https://www.integratedbreeding.net/chickpea-facts-figures 
Join the chickpea research community: https://www.integratedbreeding.net/community