Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) genetic diversity: genetic resources, breeding progress, and future prospects

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is the third most significant grain legume grown in dry and semi-arid regions. Ensuring global food security necessitates sustainable practices, such as improving agricultural productivity with cultivars that provide increased yields and adaptability. The major limits on chickpea production are poor genetic diversity, low and variable yield, and vulnerability to biotic and abiotic stresses. Despite the abundance of germplasm accessions, their impact on improving chickpea genetics has been limited. Combining contemporary genomic resources with conventional breeding techniques holds the potential to develop climate-resilient chickpea varieties. To close the genome-to-phenome gap, contemporary genomic technology must be integrated with molecular breeding initiatives. Furthermore, major genetic resources, such as molecular markers and transcript sequences, have been identified. Recent advances in genomic methods and technologies have eased large-scale sequencing and genotyping in chickpea as well as in other crops. These tools are intended to help identify trait-specific germplasm, map phenotypes, and mine alleles for biotic and abiotic stress tolerance, as well as agronomic qualities. This review focuses on recent improvements that have opened new opportunities for establishing and screening breeding populations and tactics for improving selection efficiency and speeding genetic gain in chickpea.