Objective 4: Improve chickpea (Cicer arietinum L) productivity for marginal environments in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia 

• Though currently not among the top legume crops in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), chickpea is important because its cultivated area is increasing consistently (1.2 percent per year), indicating that chickpea is well liked by farmers in SSA. There is also strong potential for exporting to Asia, particularly India, where the growing demand for chickpea outstrips supply.

Principal Investigator: Rajeev Varshney, ICRISAT
Activity Leaders: Pooran M Gaur (ICRISAT), Lakshmanan Krishnamurthy (ICRISAT), Trushar Shah (ICRISAT), Hari C Sharma (ICRISAT), Mahendar Thudi (ICRISAT)
Key collaborators: Siva K Chamarthi (ICRISAT), Sushil Kumar Chaturvedi (Indian Institute of Pulses Research), Douglas Cook (UoC–Davis), Asnake Fikre (Ethiopian Agricultural Research Institute), Andrzej Kilian (Diversity Arrays Technology Pty Ltd), Paul Kiprotich Kimurto (Egerton University, Kenya)

Summary of activities (June 2010): available soon

• Chickpea Seed Production Manual (by TLII collaborators, released February 2010)
• TLI Mid-year progress summary 2009 (submitted by PI in June 2009 for GCP's Annual Research Meeting) 
• TLI Mid-year progress summary 2008 (submitted by PI in July 2008 for GCP's Annual Research Meeting) 
• TLI Mid-year progress summary 2007