Chickpeas Identified as Key Crop for Future Food Security

Climate change has a negative impact on food security. An international research team led by Wolfram Weckwerth from the University of Vienna has now conducted a study to investigate the natural variation of different chickpea genotypes and their resistance to drought stress. The scientists were able to show that chickpeas are a drought-resistant legume plant with a high protein content that can complement grain cultivation systems even in urban areas.

The study is published in the Plant Biotechnology Journal.

Long periods of drought stress have become a reality in Central Europe due to climate change, and pose a major threat to plant productivity, harvests and therefore food security. At the same time, there is a decline in the use of plant genetic diversity, and the global food system has become more and more uniform. While there are approximately 7,000 edible crops, two-thirds of global food production is based on just nine crop species.

"This narrow genetic base can have several negative consequences, such as increased susceptibility of plants to diseases and pests, reduced resistance to factors such as drought and climate change, and increased economic fragility," explains molecular biologist Weckwerth.

"Maintaining adequate plant and genetic diversity is crucial for agriculture, which must adapt to future changing conditions. With our new study, we have taken an important step in this direction and looked at the chickpea as an important food of the future."

The chickpea is currently not one of the plants mentioned above on which the global diet is currently mainly based. Weckwerth's international research team has researched the natural variations of different chickpea genotypes and their resistance to drought stress and achieved promising results.

The team managed to grow many different chickpea varieties under drought stress in a field experiment in a Vienna city region, demonstrating that chickpeas are a great alternative legume plant with a high protein content that can complement grain farming systems in urban areas.

"The different varieties and wild types show very different mechanisms to deal with persistent drought stress. This natural genetic variability is particularly important in order to withstand climate change and ensure the survival of the plant," says Weckwerth.