Chickpea in Myanmar
Chickpea farmers in Myanmar are handicapped by end-of-season drought and heat stress
that affect yields. Early-maturing varieties well adapted to the short-season environments
have helped farmers as well as restarted the country’s export of chickpea.
Interventions
- Six chickpea varieties (Yezin 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 11) released by ICRISAT. These are high yielding, mature early, with improved resistance to fusarium wilt,and have good seed quality.
- Efficient crop production practices recommended to farmers.
Impacts
- Early-maturing varieties enabled higher productivity with two sowing-harvesting cycles per year.
- Production rose 4.8 times from 117,000 to 561,000 tons.
- Productivity doubled from 712 kg/ha to 1544 kg/ha, over the last 15 years.
- ICRISAT-related varieties cover 96% of chickpea area.
Pulses in Myanmar: Food Security / Economy
Over 160,000 farmers in Myanmar benefited from ICRISAT improved chickpea varieties (drought-tolerant, early-maturing and Fusarium wilt resistant). Close to 96% of cultivated area use ICRISAT germplasm. From a subsistence crop, chickpea is now an export commodity (US$24 million annual export value); yields doubled in 15 years (from 2000 to 2015). This work that started since 2000 and is about to be completed, has been implemented under the auspices of the CRP Grain Legumes.
