Adaptation of grain legumes (pulses) to water-limited environments

Abstract

This chapter reviews the characteristics identified for improved drought resistance in two frameworks outlined in Turner (2000) and evaluate the potential of these characteristics to improve breeding efficiency. The first framework, the “Drought-Resistance Framework,” identifies the specific physiological and biochemical characteristics that lead to improved yields in drought-prone environments through drought escape, dehydration postponement, and dehydration tolerance. The second framework “Yield Component Framework” considers yield variation in terms of characteristics affecting water use, water use efficiency, and harvest index. Both frameworks are required if progress is to be made in breeding for drought-prone areas using physiological approaches. In recent years, the development of molecular approaches or methods to identify physiological and biochemical traits in breeding populations potentially has major implications for breeding crops targeted for drought-prone environments, and progress in this area of research is reviewed. However, the focus of this chapter is grain legumes, but it is necessary to draw on studies with cereals and other species to enable critical evaluation of traits and strategies.