Adaptation of Small-Seeded Red Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik. subsp. culinaris) to Diverse Environments

The lentil improvement program of ICARDA benefits from the information generated by the Legume International Nursery Network operating globally. Over the period 1996 to 2002, 12 different types of trials comprising lentil genotypes with weights<35 g per 1000 seeds, hence defined as small-seeded, were carried out at 111 environments in 16 countries. We found that 73% of the environments significantly (P < 0.05) differentiated the lentil genotypes. The predicted environmental mean yield ranged from 180 to 3670 kg ha−1 and heritability ranged from 14 to 95%. Significant genotype × environment interaction (G × E) was observed in 10 of the 12 trial types. Seven trial types provided a wide coverage of environments, and the top yielding entries of six of them represented stable genotypes in the sense of Type II stability. Genotype 8 (FLIP 90-41L) of LIYT-1996 (1970 kg ha−1 yield), genotype 9 (FLIP 95-39L) of LIYT-1998 (1633 kg ha−1 yield), and genotype 34 (FLIP 96-31L) of LISN-1996 (1567 kg ha−1 yield) were the highest yielding and most stable in the respective trial types. The cluster analysis resulted in five clusters, four of which comprised of 85% of the locations. In selecting the highest yielding lines common between (i) the top 10% of lines based on yield across all the environments at which they were evaluated and (ii) the top 10% of lines based on yield across the environments in the individual clusters, three genotypes—FLIP 2002-20L, FLIP 97-24L, and FLIP 92-36L—showed wide adaptation with production potential at up to 61% of locations tested. These genotypes have potential for direct release as varieties and may be valuable to use in hybridization program to generate new genetic stocks for adaptation and higher yield for a wide range of environments across lentil-growing regions.