Despite the identifications of drought resistance mechanisms in large number of crops (Turner, 1996), plant breeders are still largely guided by grain yield and its stability under dry conditions in selecting for drought resistance, so this paper concentrates upon the grain yield results, their adjustment for drought escape and the separation of effects due to the differences in yield potential. Furthermore, it is important to identify the specific morphophysiological
attributes contributing to their adaptation to the water shortage patterns in their native environments. This would
assist breeders to combine selectively some of these attributes into high yielding cultivars (Rosielle and Hambling, 1981). Therefore, the objectives of this study were: (1) to assess and identify Iranian chickpea genotypes adaptable to dry environments, (2) to identify the best indices for screening drought tolerance in chickpea genotypes and (3) to identify some morpho-phenological traits important for tolerance to drought stress.