Kabuli chickpea: Improved Large-Seeded Varieties for Climate-Resilient Production

Improved large-seeded Kabuli chickpea varieties developed for diverse production environments in North Africa, West Asia, and Central Asia. The varieties offer yield potential of 2.0–3.0 t/ha, early maturity, and resistance or tolerance to major diseases such as Ascochyta blight and Fusarium wilt. Depending on the region, they also provide tolerance to drought and cold and are adapted to rainfed and irrigated conditions. Their large, high-protein seeds meet market preferences and can contribute to stronger national chickpea production, food and nutrition security, and climate resilience.

This technology is pre-validated.

9•6

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 9/9; level of use 6/9

Positive impacts: 13

Target Groups	Positie Impacts
Women smallholder farmers	Improved income opportunities: Higher and more stable chickpea yields can increase household income and strengthen women’s economic participation where women are involved in production and marketing. Reduced production risk: Disease resistance and tolerance to cold and drought can reduce crop losses in stress-prone environments. Improved food and nutrition security: Chickpea provides a protein-rich food source for households. Value-chain opportunities: Women can participate in seed multiplication, grain aggregation, processing, and marketing.
Youth farmers and agripreneurs	Employment and business opportunities: Opportunities can emerge in seed multiplication, agro-input distribution, mechanized services, aggregation, transport, processing, and marketing. Skills development: Training in improved seed production, crop management, and value-chain development can strengthen technical and entrepreneurial skills. Market opportunities: Large, uniform, market-preferred grains can create opportunities for aggregation and supply to processors, traders, and exporters.
Farmers in climate- and disease-stressed areas	Greater production resilience: Cold and drought tolerance makes the technology particularly relevant to stress-prone production systems. Reduced disease-related losses: Resistance/tolerance to major diseases can reduce the risk of severe yield losses. More reliable production: Early maturity and lodging resistance can facilitate timely harvesting and reduce exposure to late-season stresses.
Farmer organisations and rural communities	Strengthened collective action: Farmer organisations can facilitate collective access to certified seed, inputs, training, machinery, and markets. Local economic development: Increased chickpea production can stimulate activities in seed multiplication, aggregation, processing, transport, and trading. Improved food availability: Higher production contributes to household and local food and protein security.

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Unintended impacts: 12
Mitigations: 12

Barriers: 12
Mitigations: 11

Climate adaptability: Highly adaptable

The varieties have demonstrated adaptation across diverse temperate, semi-arid, arid, Mediterranean, and continental environments, with tolerance to key stresses including drought and cold and suitability for autumn, winter, or early-spring production depending on the region.

Farmer climate change readiness: Significant improvement

Their drought and cold tolerance, early maturity, and disease resistance can help farmers reduce climate-related production risks and maintain more stable yields under increasingly variable conditions.

Carbon footprint: A bit less carbon released

Chickpea's ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen through Rhizobium symbiosis can reduce dependence on synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, potentially lowering emissions associated with fertilizer production and use.

Soil quality: Improves soil health and fertility

As a legume, chickpea contributes to biological nitrogen fixation, improving nitrogen availability for subsequent crops and supporting soil fertility when integrated into appropriate crop rotations.

Water use: A bit less water used

The varieties' drought tolerance and suitability for rainfed and dryland systems can improve productivity under limited water availability and reduce the need for supplementary irrigation in suitable environments.

Problem

Low and unstable chickpea yields – Local varieties often have limited yield potential and inconsistent performance.
Disease-related yield losses – Susceptibility to Ascochyta blight and Fusarium wilt significantly reduces production.
Climate-related production risks – Cold and drought limit chickpea production.
Low market value of local seed – Small seed size and lower consumer preference reduce market opportunities.
Late maturity and harvesting constraints – Late-maturing and lodging-prone crops increase production risks.

Solution

Higher and more stable productivity: Provides improved varieties with potential yields of 2.0–3.0 t/ha, with selected Central Asian varieties delivering 18–25% higher yields than local checks.
Improved crop protection: Provides moderate to high or partial resistance/tolerance to major diseases, particularly Ascochyta blight and Fusarium wilt, with some West Asian varieties also tolerant to chickpea leaf miner.
Greater climate resilience: Offers drought and cold tolerance and adaptation to different production environments, enabling more flexible planting periods.
Improved grain quality and nutrition: Produces large, market-preferred seeds with high protein content, reaching 21.3–25% in selected West Asian varieties.
More efficient production: Early-maturing, compact and upright varieties support timely harvesting and reduce risks associated with lodging and late crop cycles.
Environmental benefits: Improves resource-use efficiency, supports biological nitrogen fixation, and can contribute to reduced water use and carbon emissions.

Key points to design your project

These improved large-seeded winter Kabuli chickpea varieties, are ideal for regions affected by diseases such as Ascochyta blight and Fusarium wilt, as well as abiotic stresses like cold and drought. Offering high and stable yields (reaching potential yields of 2.0 to 3.0 t/ha), early maturity, and lodging resistance, they provide an effective solution for enhancing crop productivity, stabilizing farmer incomes, and promoting sustainable, climate-smart chickpea farming systems.

The following steps should be considered when integrating these improved winter Kabuli chickpea varieties into a project:

Secure access to quality seed by collaborating with ICARDA and trusted local seed partners. Engage national seed authorities early for variety registration, licensing, and integration of improved varieties into national seed systems.
Identify target production zones using agro-ecological suitability and local disease incidence data. Prioritize temperate, semi-arid, arid, Mediterranean, continental, and dryland/rainfed zones experiencing frequent disease outbreaks (specifically Ascochyta blight and Fusarium wilt) and severe cold or drought stress where local chickpea varieties typically underperform.
Partner with experienced seed producers, village seed hubs, or certified community seed enterprises to ensure local availability of certified quality seed. Provide specialized training on seed multiplication, variety purity maintenance, and disease screening to preserve genetic resistance.
Strengthen agro-dealer and distribution networks to ensure timely seed availability in various retail sizes, catering to both smallholders and commercial chickpea growers.
Establish demonstration plots and training hubs in collaboration with agricultural extension services, governments, and NGOs. Highlight yield advantages (such as 18–25% higher yields over local checks), superior disease resistance, and market-preferred large grain characteristics compared to traditional varieties.
Plan and manage input supply effectively, including adequate volumes of certified seed, recommended mineral fertilizers (DAP, SSP, NPK, Urea, and MOP), micronutrients (Zinc sulphate, borax), and biofertilizers (Rhizobium and Phosphate Solubilizing Bacteria) to optimize plant nutrition and biological nitrogen fixation. Coordinate input distribution with local planting schedules (such as early spring planting in Central Asia or autumn/winter sowing in West Asia).
Train extension officers and lead farmers on best agronomic practices, including disease identification (for blights and wilts), integrated pest management (IPM) for pests like the chickpea leaf miner and gram pod borer, and optimal harvest methods—including mechanical harvesting facilitated by the upright plant architecture—to maximize productivity and market quality.
Develop outreach campaigns and materials in local languages to encourage widespread adoption. Utilize accessible communication tools such as posters, community radio programs, and short educational videos to illustrate the economic and practical benefits of these varieties (including significant water-use efficiency and soil fertility enhancement).
Implement robust monitoring and evaluation systems to track adoption rates, yield performance, disease incidence, and market impact. Use gathered data for strategic improvements and comprehensive reporting to stakeholders, research partners, and policymakers to help scale up the technology.

Variety	Region	Sowing-Maturity Cycle	Yield Potential (t/ha)	Ascochyta Blight Resistance	Fusarium Wilt Resistance	1000-Kernel Weight (g)	Plant Architecture	Protein Content (%)
Djahangir	Central Asia	Early maturing (Spring-adapted)	2.5 – 3.0 (18–25% higher than checks)	Moderate to High resistance	Moderate to High resistance	Large to Medium size	Upright, compact, lodging resistant	High Protein
Sids101	North Africa	Early maturing (Short crop cycle)	2.0 – 2.5	Partial resistance	Partial resistance	Large seed size/weight	Upright	High Protein
Joud	North Africa	Early maturing (Short crop cycle)	2.0 – 2.5	Partial resistance	Partial resistance	Large seed size/weight	Upright	High Protein
Bochra	North Africa	Early maturing (Short crop cycle)	2.0 – 2.5	Partial resistance	Partial resistance	Large seed size/weight	Upright	High Protein
FLIP 93-93C	North Africa	Early maturing (Short crop cycle)	2.0 – 2.5	Partial resistance	Partial resistance	Large seed size/weight	Upright	High Protein
FLIP97-7C	West Asia	Early maturity (Short duration)	2.0 – 2.5	Resistant/tolerant	Resistant/tolerant	35.0 – 38.1 (Selected varieties)	Upright, compact, machine-harvestable	21.3% – 25.0%
FLIP97-706C	West Asia	Early maturity (Short duration)	2.0 – 2.5	Resistant/tolerant	Resistant/tolerant	35.0 – 38.1 (Selected varieties)	Upright, compact, machine-harvestable	21.3% – 25.0%
Azkan	West Asia	Early maturity (Short duration)	2.0 – 2.5	Resistant/tolerant	Resistant/tolerant	35.0 – 38.1 (Selected varieties)	Upright, compact, machine-harvestable	21.3% – 25.0%

18—25 %

Higher yields than local check varieties

21.3—25 %

Protein content

2—3 t

Potential yield per Ha

IP

Plant variety protection

Scaling Readiness describes how complete a technology\’s development is and its ability to be scaled. It produces a score that measures a technology\’s readiness along two axes: the level of maturity of the idea itself, and the level to which the technology has been used so far.

Each axis goes from 0 to 9 where 9 is the “ready-to-scale” status. For each technology profile in the e-catalogs we have documented the scaling readiness status from evidence given by the technology providers. The e-catalogs only showcase technologies for which the scaling readiness score is at least 8 for maturity of the idea and 7 for the level of use.

The graph below represents visually the scaling readiness status for this technology, you can see the label of each level by hovering your mouse cursor on the number.

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 9 out of 9

Uncontrolled environment: validated

Level of use 9 out of 9

Used by some projects NOT connected to technology provider

Maturity of the idea										Level of use
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Positive impact 13

Target Groups	Positie Impacts
Women smallholder farmers	Improved income opportunities: Higher and more stable chickpea yields can increase household income and strengthen women’s economic participation where women are involved in production and marketing. Reduced production risk: Disease resistance and tolerance to cold and drought can reduce crop losses in stress-prone environments. Improved food and nutrition security: Chickpea provides a protein-rich food source for households. Value-chain opportunities: Women can participate in seed multiplication, grain aggregation, processing, and marketing.
Youth farmers and agripreneurs	Employment and business opportunities: Opportunities can emerge in seed multiplication, agro-input distribution, mechanized services, aggregation, transport, processing, and marketing. Skills development: Training in improved seed production, crop management, and value-chain development can strengthen technical and entrepreneurial skills. Market opportunities: Large, uniform, market-preferred grains can create opportunities for aggregation and supply to processors, traders, and exporters.
Farmers in climate- and disease-stressed areas	Greater production resilience: Cold and drought tolerance makes the technology particularly relevant to stress-prone production systems. Reduced disease-related losses: Resistance/tolerance to major diseases can reduce the risk of severe yield losses. More reliable production: Early maturity and lodging resistance can facilitate timely harvesting and reduce exposure to late-season stresses.
Farmer organisations and rural communities	Strengthened collective action: Farmer organisations can facilitate collective access to certified seed, inputs, training, machinery, and markets. Local economic development: Increased chickpea production can stimulate activities in seed multiplication, aggregation, processing, transport, and trading. Improved food availability: Higher production contributes to household and local food and protein security.

Unintended impact 12

Target Groups	Unintented Impacts	Mitigation Measures
Women smallholder farmers	Increased workload: Additional production, harvesting, processing, and marketing activities may increase women's labour burden. Unequal control over income: Increased chickpea revenues may not necessarily translate into greater control over household income. Limited access to productive resources: Women may have less access to land, finance, certified seed, machinery, and extension services.	Promote labour-saving practices and mechanization where feasible. Strengthen women's participation in producer groups and decision-making. Facilitate women's access to credit, land, quality seed, inputs, extension, and market information.
Youth farmers and agripreneurs	Financial risk: Investment in seed multiplication, machinery, storage, or aggregation may expose young entrepreneurs to financial losses. Market uncertainty: Production without reliable buyers may create price and marketing risks. Technical requirements: Commercial seed production and quality assurance require specialised knowledge.	Provide youth-oriented financing, business development services, and incubation programmes. Establish links with seed companies, processors, traders, and exporters. Provide technical training, mentorship, and certification support.
Farmers in climate- and disease-stressed areas	Dependence on improved seed and external inputs: Farmers may become dependent on formal seed systems and purchased inputs. Misuse of crop protection products: Limited technical knowledge may lead to inappropriate pesticide or fungicide use. False expectations of climate resilience: Farmers may assume the varieties eliminate all risks associated with drought, cold, or disease.	Strengthen local seed multiplication and recycling systems that maintain varietal quality. Provide training on integrated pest and disease management and safe input use. Clearly communicate the technology's adaptation limits and promote complementary climate-smart practices.
Farmer organisations and rural communities	Unequal distribution of benefits: Larger or better-connected farmers may capture more benefits from premium markets. Market saturation: Rapid expansion without adequate market development could depress chickpea prices. Pressure on local resources: Intensification may increase demand for land, soil nutrients, and water in some production systems.	Establish transparent and inclusive producer-group mechanisms. Strengthen market linkages, aggregation, storage, processing, and contract arrangements. Promote sustainable soil, water, and land management practices.

Barriers 12

Target Groups	Adoption barriers	Mitigation Measures
Women smallholder farmers	Limited access to finance and land: Social and institutional constraints may limit women's ability to invest in improved seed and inputs. Limited access to extension: Women may have fewer opportunities to participate in training and demonstrations. Limited access to markets: Women may have weaker connections to formal seed and grain markets.	Develop gender-responsive financing and input programmes. Deliver training through women’s groups and accessible local extension channels. Strengthen women's participation in producer organisations and market networks.
Youth farmers and agripreneurs	Limited start-up capital: Lack of financing can constrain investment in seed multiplication, machinery, storage, or trading. Limited experience: Young entrepreneurs may lack technical knowledge of chickpea seed systems and commercial production. Weak market connections: Limited access to established buyers can reduce profitability.	Provide youth-focused grants, loans, entrepreneurship training, mentorship, and incubation. Link youth enterprises with research institutions, seed companies, agro-dealers, processors, and buyers.
Farmers in climate- and disease-stressed areas	Limited availability of locally adapted varieties: Not all varieties are suitable for every agroecological zone. Limited access to crop protection and climate information: Farmers may lack timely technical advice. Production uncertainty: Severe drought, cold, disease outbreaks, or other climatic events may still affect production.	Promote region-specific variety selection and testing. Strengthen extension, climate information, disease surveillance, and early warning systems. Combine improved varieties with appropriate agronomic and climate-smart practices.
Farmer organisations and rural communities	Weak organisational capacity: Farmer organisations may have limited ability to coordinate seed procurement, multiplication, aggregation, and marketing. Poor infrastructure: Inadequate storage, transport, processing, and market infrastructure can limit scaling. Weak seed distribution networks: Limited availability of certified seed can constrain adoption.	Strengthen cooperative governance and business capacity. Invest in community seed systems, storage, aggregation, transport, and processing infrastructure. Develop partnerships among producer organisations, seed companies, research institutions, governments, and buyers.

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country	Testing ongoing	Tested	Adopted
Afghanistan	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Algeria	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Azerbaijan	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Egypt	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Iran	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Kazakhstan	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Kyrgyz Republic	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Lebanon	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Morocco	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Sudan	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Tajikistan	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Tunisia	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Türkiye	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Uzbekistan	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones. Any zones shown in white are not suitable for this technology.

Agro-ecological zones where this technology can be used
AEZ	Subtropic - warm	Tropic - warm
Arid	–	–
Semiarid	–	–
Subhumid	–	–
Humid	–	–

Source: HarvestChoice/IFPRI 2009

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are applicable to this technology.

Goal 1: no poverty

By creating additional income opportunities through profitable, climate-smart chickpea production

Goal 2: zero hunger

By increasing domestic chickpea production, household food availability, and nutrition

Goal 13: climate action

By improving soil health and fertility through biological nitrogen fixation

To use the improved large-seeded winter Kabuli chickpea technology efficiently, farmers and operators should follow a structured, step-by-step agronomic and crop protection protocol tailored to their specific regional climate.

Step 1: Regional Variety Selection

To optimize performance, select and obtain certified seeds of the specific variety developed and tested for your country's environment.

Step 2: Optimized Planting & Sowing

Timing: Sow at the recommended regional times to maximize environmental adaptation and mitigate climate risks.

In Central Asia, utilize the cold-tolerant varieties for early spring planting.
In West Asia, utilize the high drought and cold tolerance of these varieties for autumn and winter planting, as well as spring planting.
In North Africa, utilize the early-maturing and short crop cycle of the varieties to prevent late-season environmental stresses.

Sowing Rate and Spacing: Sow using the correct seed rate and crop spacing to ensure optimum plant population density.

Step 3: Nutrient Management & Soil Health

Improve crop establishment and overall productivity by utilizing both organic and inorganic soil inputs:

Mineral Fertilizers: Apply a balanced mix of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium (NPK) fertilizers, specifically DAP (Di-ammonium Phosphate), SSP (Single Super Phosphate), Urea, and Muriate of Potash (MOP).
Micronutrients: Supplement the soil with Zinc sulphate and borax.
Biofertilizers: Inoculate seeds with Rhizobium and Phosphate Solubilizing Bacteria (PSB) to optimize plant nutrition and facilitate natural biological nitrogen fixation, which makes the soil healthier and more fertile.

Step 4: Integrated Pest, Disease & Weed Management

Weed Management: Apply pre- and post-emergence herbicides such as Pendimethalin, Quizalofop-p-ethyl, and Propaquizafop.
Disease Management: Protect against devastating yields losses from Ascochyta blight and Fusarium wilt by applying seed treatments or foliar sprays of fungicides such as Carbendazim, Thiram, Mancozeb, Tebuconazole, Azoxystrobin, or Carboxin.
Pest Management: Control insect pests including the chickpea leaf miner, gram pod borer, aphids, and Sitona spp. using targeted insecticides such as Imidacloprid, Thiamethoxam, Acetamiprid, Chlorantraniliprole, Emamectin Benzoate, Indoxacarb, or Lambda-cyhalothrin.

Step 5: Harvesting & Safe Storage

Harvesting: Harvest immediately when the crop reaches full maturity.

In West Asia, leverage the compact, upright plant architecture by using mechanical harvesting to dramatically reduce manual labor requirements and ensure a timely harvest.
In Central Asia, benefit from the lodging resistance of the upright crop architecture to ensure clean and easy crop removal.

Grain Preservation: Dry the grain thoroughly after harvest to prevent mold and moisture damage.
Storage: Store the dried chickpeas in clean, dry, pest-proof containers to preserve grain quality and protect the high protein content.

Last updated on Sep 2, 2026

International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA)
Shiv Kumar

Commodities

Kabuli Chickpea

Sustainable Development Goals Details ›

Subcategory

Disease resistance Yield improvement Quality improvement Drought tolerance Cold tolerance

Value chain step

Pre-production

Tested/adopted in Details ›

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Where it can be used Details ›

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones.

Target groups

Governments Seed companies Cooperatives and Agribusinesses Development institutions

Kabuli chickpea: Improved Large-Seeded Varieties for Climate-Resilient Production

Positive impacts: 13

Problem

Solution

Key points to design your project

18—25 %

21.3—25 %

2—3 t

IP

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 9 out of 9

Level of use 9 out of 9

Positive impact 13

Unintended impact 12

Barriers 12

Goal 1: no poverty

Goal 2: zero hunger

Goal 13: climate action

Commodities

Sustainable Development Goals Details ›

Category

Subcategory

Value chain step

Tested/adopted in Details ›

Where it can be used Details ›

Target groups

TAAT

Kabuli chickpea: Improved Large-Seeded Varieties for Climate-Resilient Production

Inclusion assessment 13 12 12

Positive impacts: 13

Climate impact 5

Problem

Solution

Key points to design your project

18—25 %

21.3—25 %

2—3 t

IP

Scaling readiness

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 9 out of 9

Level of use 9 out of 9

Inclusion assessment

Positive impact 13

Unintended impact 12

Barriers 12

Tested/adopted in

Where it can be used

Sustainable Development Goals

Goal 1: no poverty

Goal 2: zero hunger

Goal 13: climate action

How to use

Commodities

Sustainable Development Goals Details ›

Category

Subcategory

Value chain step

Tested/adopted in Details ›

Where it can be used Details ›

Target groups