Assessment of the phenotypic diversity and agronomic performance of a Mediterranean lentil collection under rainfed conditions: towards efficient use in breeding programs for adaptation to Mediterranean-type environment

Abstract

The improvement of lentil productivity and resilience to climate change requires the deployment of breeding approaches and sustainable agronomic practices. Germplasm from the Mediterranean region could be an important source of useful traits for lentil breeding programs. Additionally, no-tillage could also contribute to maintaining lentil productivity in drought-prone environments. However, there are few studies on breeding for adaptation to no-tillage in lentil, as this practice can create growing conditions that differ from those under conventional tillage. The objectives of this study were to assess the genetic variability of a lentil collection in different environments, and to evaluate the significance of genotype by tillage system effect on grain yield and other agronomic traits. A Mediterranean lentil collection of 119 accessions was evaluated in Morocco (under no-till and conventional tillage) and in Turkey (during two growing seasons) under rainfed conditions. Moroccan landraces were the earliest to flower compared to landraces from Italy, Turkey, and Greece; however, advanced breeding lines flowered earlier than landraces. Turkish and Greek landraces displayed the highest mean values of plant height and hundred-seed weight, respectively. Advanced lines yielded more than landraces in all trials except in low-yielding environment (Adana in 2022 season) in which higher yield was recorded in Turkish landraces, followed by Moroccan landraces. The accessions identified in different environments could be used as donors in breeding programs. The effect of genotype × tillage interaction on grain yield was not significant, highlighting that the implementation of separate breeding programs for each tillage system may not be efficient.