Chickpeas: Sustainable and climate-friendly foods of the future

Long periods of drought stress have also become a reality in Central Europe due to climate change, a major threat to plant productivity, harvests and therefore food security. At the same time, there is a decline in the use of plant genetic diversity, and the global food system has become more and more uniform. While there are approximately 7,000 edible crops, two-thirds of global food production is based on just nine crop species. "This narrow genetic base can have several negative consequences, such as increased susceptibility of plants to diseases and pests, reduced resistance to factors such as drought and climate change, and increased economic fragility," explains molecular biologist Wolfram Weckwerth from the University of Vienna. "Maintaining adequate plant and genetic diversity is crucial for agriculture, which must adapt to future changing conditions. With our new study, we have taken an important step in this direction and looked at the chickpea as an important food of the future," says Weckwerth

The chickpea is currently not one of the plants mentioned above on which the global diet is currently mainly based. The international research team led by Wolfram Weckwerth has now researched the natural variations of different chickpea genotypes and their resistance to drought stress and achieved promising results. The team managed to grow many different chickpea varieties under drought stress in a field experiment in a Vienna city region, demonstrating that chickpeas are a great alternative legume plant with a high protein content that can complement grain farming systems in urban areas. "The different varieties and wild types show very different mechanisms to deal with persistent drought stress. This natural genetic variability is particularly important in order to withstand climate change and ensure the survival of the plant," says Weckwerth.

"In our study, we used a stress susceptibility index (SSI) to assess the effects of drought stress on yield. This allowed us to identify genotypes that perform best and worst under stressful conditions. Our findings are crucial for the selection of genotypes for breeding drought-tolerant chickpeas," explains Palak Chaturvedi from the University of Vienna, lead author of the study. The team used artificial intelligence, multivariate statistics and modeling to identify markers and mechanisms for better resilience to drought stress.

"With their high protein content and their drought resistance, legumes such as chickpeas are a food of the future. Another advantage is that a higher proportion of legumes in a country's agricultural systems improves the overall efficiency of nitrogen use -- this also makes agriculture more sustainable," summarizes Weckwerth.