Chickpea Asaresultofradiation-treatmentoflocalcultivarsand subsequent selection for disease resistance in segregatingmutantpopulations,thefirsthighyieldingchickpea mutant cultivar ‘CM-72’ resistant to Ascochyta blight was released in Pakistan in 1983. Between 1988–90, in the North Western Frontier Province (NWFP)thechickpeayieldswere44–45%higherthan the average of the previous five years, mainly because ofthecultivationofthisexcellentdisease-resistantcultivar. In 1995, a new mutant cultivar ‘CM-88’ was released with multiple resistance (Ascochyta blight and Fusarium wilt) and recently ‘CM-98’, which is disease resistant and high yielding. The current area covered by these mutant cultivars is 350,000ha, more than 30% of the total area under chickpea. The ad
ditional income to farmers has been estimated at US$ 9.6millionperyear.Morethan800newdiseaseresistant and morphologicalmutants have been producedto broaden the chickpea gene pool in the country (M.A. Awan, pers. commun.).