ADDITIONAL SOURCES OF TOLERANCE TO COLD IN CULTIVATED AND WILD CICER SPECIES

Cold tolerance is an important prerequisite for winter sowing of chick pea (Cicer arietinum L.) in Mediterranean environments, Cold-tolerant lines identified earlier at ICARDA are sometimes not tolerant enough t o tolerate exceptionally cold winters which occur occasionally, The ob jectives of this study were to identify sources of increased cold tole rance and to ascertain associations of cold tolerance with other plant traits. Cold tolerance of 4284 kabuli and 2137 desi germplasm lines, 857 breeding lines, and 59 lines of seven annual wild Cicer species wa s evaluated during the five winters from 1987 to 1992 at ICARDA sites at Tel Hadya and Breda in Syria, The susceptible check was kilted in a ll 5 yr, indicating the severity of cold winters, Eleven kabuli but no desi germplasm lines, and 14 breeding lines, were tolerant. Among the cultigens, a germplasm line (ILC 8262), a mutant (ILC 8617), and a br eeding line (FLIP 87-82C) were the best sources of cold tolerance, wit h a consistent rating of three (1-9 scale, where 1 = free from damage and 9 = all plants killed) over years and locations. Among wild specie s, 26 lines of C. reticulatum, 10 of C. bijugum, four of C. echinosper mum, two of C. pinnatifidum, and one of C. judaicum were cold tolerant , Five lines of C. bijugum and four of C. reticulatum had a rating of two, reflecting their better cold tolerance than the cultigen. Correla tion studies on 2970 lines indicated that prostrate growth habit durin g winter months was positively associated with cold tolerance. Some la te-flowering lines were susceptible, others were tolerant to cold; whe reas, all early-flowering lines were susceptible to cold. Cold toleran ce had no association with anthocyanin pigmentation on the stem. Older plants were more susceptible to cold than younger plants.