Evaluation of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Genotypes for Cold Resistance in Autumn Cultivation in Rafsanjan Region of Iran

Pea cultivation in autumn has a higher yield compared to its spring cultivation. In order to investigate the possibility of changing the planting date of chickpea from spring to autumn in (Kerman province, Iran) and obtaining cultivars that could withstand cold winter and produce more yield, 63 chickpea genotypes were planted in pots at Dec/2016 and evaluated in field .The  agronomic traits including: days from planting to flowering and podding, total number of pods, number of full pods, yield, 100 seed weight, flower color, percentage of cold mortality and harvest index were measured in pot and field conditions and membrane stability of genotypes was measured in growth chamber. The highest coefficient of variation was observed for the percentage of mortality (120%) and the lowest for the number of days from planting to podding (%3.12). In step wise regression, traits of seed number per plant, 100 seed weight, total pod, biological dry weight, harvest index and ion leakage were entered into the model, respectively. There was a significant correlation between the color of the flower and ion leakage, mortality percentage and other quantitative traits. Cluster analysis divided the genotypes into three distinct groups. The second cluster had superiority in terms of cold resistance and many agronomic traits. Urimia 128, Khoy563, Torbatjam 345, Jiroft 289 and Daragaz 474 Genotypes were selected from this cluster based on independent culling levels.