How an Indian scientist is developing climate-resilient chickpeas

Consider the humble chickpea. A hardy, water-efficient “pulse crop,” meaning a legume that is harvested for its seeds, like beans, lentils, and peas, chickpeas are among the earliest-known cultivated vegetables and have been grown for sustenance since 8,000 B.C. Today, they are a primary source of protein and iron for more than 1 billion people around the world, most of them in India.

“Chickpeas aren’t just a pulse crop,” says Prof. Chellapilla Bharadwaj, an agricultural scientist who’s been working with chickpeas for 27 years and counting. “They are the pulse of the nation of India, the pulse of the soil, and the pulse of many human beings.” As the principal chickpea breeder at the ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR), that works alongside ICARDA & ICRISAT, two of thirteen global centers within CGIAR, a global agriculture research network, Prof. Bharadwaj is at the forefront of developing high-yielding, climate-resilient chickpea varieties that can better withstand drought, pests, and other stresses.

Bharadwaj is especially interested in helping smallholder farmers increase their chickpea yields and their family incomes. Because chickpeas can readily grow on marginal land and improve that land’s fertility by boosting nitrogen levels in the soil, they are a key crop for millions of smallholder farmers, both across India and around the world. “Large farmers with hundreds of acres may require different interventions,” he says. “I’m working to help the small farmers, who will be the biggest losers of climate change otherwise.”

Already, increasing droughts are threatening to halve global chickpea yields, especially in South Asia, where nearly three-fourths of the world’s chickpeas are cultivated. For Bharadwaj, the sense of urgency among farmers is palpable. “Whether it’s India, Africa, or Asia,” he says, “small farmers are being most affected by the changing climate. That’s who I want to help.”