Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is an important pulse crop grown in Australia and internationally where it is an important source of protein in many countries. It is the major grain legume in the northern region of Australia and brings many benefits as a rotational crop with wheat. However, both wheat and chickpeas are hosts of the root-lesion nematodes Pratylenchus thornei and P. neglectus. These nematodes are widely distributed in the Australian grain growing regions and when in high populations can cause >50% and ~20% grain yield loss in intolerant wheat and chickpea varieties respectively.

The aim of this project is to assess the new accessions of C. reticulatum and C. echinospermum for resistance to P. thornei and P. neglectus. This will identify accessions with superior resistance to root-lesion nematodes that can be used to introgress resistance genes into adapted chickpea varieties to build resistant parents for use in Australian chickpea breeding programs. When resistant varieties of both chickpea and wheat are available for growers use, chickpea-wheat farming systems will be more profitable than they are now where root-lesion nematodes are present.