Adaptation strategies of major pulse crops under diverse climatic conditions
Keywords:
Pulse crops, Climate change adaptation, Drought and heat stress, Reactive oxygen species, MAPK signalling, Climate-smart agricultureAbstract
Climate change is intensifying abiotic stresses such as drought, heat, cold, salinity, and flooding, posing serious threats to the productivity of pulse crops cultivated largely in rainfed and marginal environments. Major pulses, including chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L.), lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.), mungbean (Vigna radiata L.), urdbean (Vigna mungo L.), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.), and field pea (Pisum sativum L.) are particularly vulnerable during reproductive stages. This review critically synthesizes morphological, physiological, biochemical, molecular, genetic, and agronomic adaptation strategies that enable pulses to cope with diverse climatic conditions. Emphasis is placed on oxidative stress management, hormonal and MAPK signaling, and climate-smart agronomy, with a special focus on Indian agroclimatic zones and ICAR-led initiatives. Integrating stress-resilient genotypes with adaptive management practices is highlighted as a key pathway for sustaining pulse productivity under climate change.
References
Ashraf M and Foolad MR 2007 Roles of glycine betaine and proline in improving plant abiotic stress resistance. Environmental and Experimental Botany 59: 206–216.
Battaglia M, Olvera-Carrillo Y, García-Gómez BI, Campos F and Covarrubias AA 2008 The enigmatic LEA proteins and other hydrophilins. Plant Physiology 148: 6–24.
Bhandari K, Siddique KHM, Turner NC, Kaur J, Singh S, Agrawal SK and Nayyar H. 2023. Heat stress at reproductive stage in pulses: Physiological, biochemical and molecular responses. Frontiers in Plant Science 14: 1156321.
Blum A 2011 Plant breeding for water-limited environments. Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1- 4419-7491-4.
Condon AG, Richards RA, Rebetzke GJ and Farquhar GD 2004 Breeding for high water-use efficiency. Journal of Experimental Botany 55: 2447–2460.
Crafts-Brandner SJ and Salvucci ME 2000 Rubisco activase constrains the photosynthetic potential of leaves at high temperature and CO2. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 97: 13430–13435.
Chen K, Wang Y, Zhang R, Zhang H and Gao C 2019 CRISPR/Cas genome editing and precision plant breeding in agriculture. Annual Review of Plant Biology 70: 667–697.
Fahad S, Hussain S and Bano A, et al. 2015 Potential role of phytohormones and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria in abiotic stress tolerance. Frontiers in
Journal of Food Legumes 39 (Special issue - NC Pulses 2026), 2026 Plant Science 6: 900.
Gill SS and Tuteja N 2010 Reactive oxygen species and antioxidant machinery in abiotic stress tolerance in crop plants. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry 48: 909–930.
Hasanuzzaman M, Bhuyan MHMB and Zulfiqar F, et al. 2020 Reactive oxygen species and antioxidant defense in plants under abiotic stress. Antioxidants 9: 681.
Hasanuzzaman M, Nahar K and Alam MM, et al. 2021 Plant responses and tolerance to salt stress. Environmental and Experimental Botany 186: 104435.
Hobbs PR, Sayre K and Gupta R 2008 The role of conservation agriculture in sustainable agriculture. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 363: 543–555.
ICAR 2023 Vision 2050: Indian Institute of Pulses Research. Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi.
IPCC 2019 Climate Change and Land: An IPCC Special Report. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Geneva.
Jaganathan D, Ramasamy K, Sellamuthu G, Jayabalan S and Venkataraman G 2020 CRISPR for crop improvement. Molecular Biology Reports 47: 4095–4108.
Kashiwagi J, Krishnamurthy L, Crouch JH and Serraj R 2015 Variability of root characteristics and drought avoidance in chickpea. Crop Science 55: 2411–2420.
Kudapa H, Garg V, Chitikineni A and Varshney RK 2022 Genomics-assisted breeding for abiotic stress tolerance in pulses. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 135: 373–389.
Kumar S, Thakur P, Kaushal N, Malik JA, Gaur P and Nayyar H 2022 Heat stress effects on reproductive development in pulses. Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science 208: 1–15.
Kumar S, Sharma P and Sharma N 2021 Antioxidative defense mechanisms in legumes under abiotic stress. Legume Research 44: 1–10.
Lithourgidis AS, Dordas CA, Damalas CA and Vlachostergios DN 2011 Annual intercrops: an alternative pathway for sustainable agriculture. Australian Journal of Crop Science 5: 396–410.
Mittler R 2017 ROS are good. Trends in Plant Science 22: 11–19.
Munns R and Tester M 2008 Mechanisms of salinity tolerance. Annual Review of Plant Biology 59: 651–681.
Paparella S, Araujo SS and Rossi G, et al. 2015 Seed priming: state of the art and new perspectives. Plant Cell Reports 34: 1281–1293.
Pratap A, Das A, Kumar S and Gupta S 2021 Current perspectives on drought tolerance in mungbean. Frontiers in Plant Science 12: 653162.
Reynolds MP, Braun HJ and Cavalieri AJ, et al. 2017 Improving heat tolerance in wheat and other crops. Journal of Experimental Botany 68: 3125–3140.
Sairam RK, Kumutha D, Ezhilmathi K, Chinnusamy V adn Meena RC 2009 Waterlogging stress in plants. Biologia Plantarum 53: 345–352.
Sharma KD, Nayyar H and Upadhyaya HD 2021 Cold stress tolerance in grain legumes. Plant Breeding 140: 54–71.
Singh KB and Saxena MC 2020 Adaptation of chickpea to drought-prone environments. Food Legumes 33: 1–9.
Tardieu F, Simonneau T and Muller B 2018 The physiological basis of drought tolerance. Journal of Experimental Botany 69: 1–14.
Varshney RK, Bohra A, Yu J, Graner A, Zhang Q and Sorrells ME 2021 Designing future crops: genomics assisted breeding. Trends in Plant Science 26: 117–131.
Vierling E 1991 The roles of heat shock proteins in plants. Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology 42: 579–620.
Visentin I, Pagliarani C and Deva E, et al. 2020 Hormonal crosstalk in stress responses. Plant, Cell & Environment 43: 1365–1380.
Zhang H, Zhao Y and Zhu JK 2018 Thriving under stress: MAPK signaling pathways. Plant Cell 30: 660–676.
